True Stories of Amazing People and Places in Texas

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There is something romantic yet harshly concrete about an abandoned town. Dreams, conflicts, and losses still haunt what remains, so it’s no wonder we call these locales “ghost towns."

Found Inside: The remains of Bronco straddle the Texas-New Mexico state line in Yoakum County, west of Plains and southwest of Lubbock. The beginning of Bronco can be traced to 1903 and the activities of a cowboy-turned-storekeeper ... Abandoned businesses and residences are gradually succumbing to the elements at Tokio ... Read more Look inside

Found Inside: "Marvin L. Ward was born in Denver City, Texas on April 12, 1941. He moved around as a boy until coming to Rotan, Texas. There in a small Baptist church he asks Jesus to come into his life at the ripe age of 12. He joined the USAF in October ... Read more Look inside

Found Inside: "On March 10, 1919 Clyde Douglas Turner was born in a ranch shack on the high plains of far West Texas. The nearest mark of civilization was the tiny town of Plains, the county seat of Yoakum County. As someone who grew up in West Texas (Plains and Sweetwater), and played college ball at a school that was a long train ride or two-hop flight on a puddle jumper away from major cities, during an era when scouting was word of mouth, Turner was lucky to be discovered by the NFL at all ... Read more Look inside

The story follows the unending series of natural and man-made disasters that forever changed the cattle culture of Texas ...

Found Inside: A dirt road led straight west out of town heading for Plains, the county seat of Yoakum County. Just inside the Yoakum County line, we selected our homestead plots, one for each of us over eighteen. The Plains road was the south boundary of ... Read more Look inside

Alvin L. Ward served in the Army Air Corps during WWII, stationed in Guam and Saipan. He later worked for Land-Air in Germany. He farmed in West Texas for many years and then operated A&M Auto Parts in Denver City, Texas. Due to poor health, he spent several years researching his genealogy. He traveled around visiting close relatives and contacting long-lost relatives he discovered, collecting photos, news articles, and family information from them . . . Read more Look inside

Tanya chronicles her rise to the top of country music fame, and tells her story about her struggle up from poverty.

Found inside: "... first seventeen years of their marriage, Mom and Dad stayed put in Denver City. They never had an excess of money, but times weren't all hard, either ... Although we were still living in Denver City, La Costa and I were born eighteen miles away, in Seminole, where the family doctor lived ... Read more

Found Inside:  “Well, like I was saying, Sharpe had hitched a ride to Plains, Texas, where he had an old prison buddy. He spent the night with him, and this morning the buddy took Sharpe to the Greyhound station in Brownfield ... "I didn't intend to sit around all day waiting for the sleeping beauties to awaken, so I decided to concentrate on the parolee and the sheriff in Yoakum County. I immediately made the call to the sheriff, who advised he would get in touch with the ...  " Read more Look inside

Found Inside: Hazel had a small farm near Aunt Carmen and Theodore. When the boys were eight or ten, the family moved back to Yoakum County and made that their home until Hazel died from a heart attack in 1947 ... Read more Look inside

Legends of the Hall: 1950s captures a period of time when playing professional football was for tough, honest men who played solely for the love of the game.

Found Inside: "Turner stole 17 passes in his career, was AllNFL seven times, anchored four NFL championship teams, and intercepted four passes in five NFL title games. He retired from the Bears in 1952. He was born March 10, 1919, in Plains, Texas, and ... " Read more Look inside

Found Inside: "... spend the evenings with them, praying as a group. Eight people volunteered to go. At the last moment two of the couples had to cancel, leaving Jered and Kay Sellers from the First Baptist Church of Plains, Texas, my wife, Dr. L. and myself ... Read more Look inside

by Clyde Turner

A Sensation Star Tells How to Do It

Many black & white photos of 1940's football players and playing techniques.

Found Inside: "As I ran into Plains, Texas I saw Grandpa up ahead parked in a motel parking lot. He said he heard there was going to be snow that night so he would get me a room instead of leaving me to fend for myself in the snow. Taking the stroller off of ... " Read more Look inside

Resources:

West Texas History & Memories

Early Life in Texas County by County

Books about Texas People and Places

Amazing People from Texas County by County