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GRAY
MULE, TEXAS
AKA Edgin, Texas
Texas
Ghost Town
Floyd
County, Texas
Panhandle
On the Caprock Canyons State Park Nature Trail
Entrance
5 miles South of Quitaque
on FM 1065,
then 2 miles west on FM 689
Population: 0 |
The
last standing structure in Gray Mule.
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, March 2010 |
Remembering
Gray Muleby
Billie Mayhall Freeman
Gray Mule was officially named Edgin
as it was at first a place where the trains stopped to put on more water for its
engines which I guess were steam. I am not sure of who started calling it Gray
Mule but it never showed up on maps, and probably neither did Edgin. It was always
called Gray Mule by locals and probably everyone else except the train folks.
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The School
When
we lived in that area, Gray Mule had a school up to maybe the sixth grade which
was three rooms. One room was for the first through the third and another room
for the 4th and up. The other had been planned for growth which never happened
and was used for storage and school parties and activites for the public. I remember
a cousin winning a jar of pickles for being the ugliest man there and I was so
proud to have a celebrity in the family. In later years he never remembered that.
I never forgot it. There were outdoor toilets with catalogs when we were lucky.
The school was a nice brick building across the road north from the
store. There was also a teacher's residence on the grounds. Our two teachers
were a married couple named Roy L. Jamison and his wife, whose name just slipped
from my instant memory. It will come back for brief visits.
The "Graveyard"
and the Land
We returned to that valley often over the years and saw it
as these structures slowly disintegrated and were plundered. The foundation showed
up for a very long time but we saw no sign of it for the last 20 years perhaps.
That is a wild guess. The "graveyard" remains down the road west of where
the school stood and in a pasture to the north and is now well marked, but for
a long time was hard to find for strangers. It is on private land. It remained
well tended when we were there last, about 3 years ago. There are quite a few
of the pioneer's descendants living in that area still, more in Quitaque now.
But some remain on farms out that way also. The land is marginal for farming and
still depends primarily on rain which varies widely from year to year. It is beautiful
scenery there just at the foot of the red clay caprock drop off from the high
plains of Texas.
Identifying the Last Standing Structure
The
tank in the photo is probably the one that fed the water for the trains. I dont
ever remember having seen that structure standing alone there in later years,
but the view north to the railroad tracks from the road was obstructed by mesquite
trees during the spring and falls when we usually took our trips there. I heard
the trains more than I saw them and they were never very frequent except for the
Doodle Bug that later carried the mail up and back from the plains area. The windmill
and water storage tank and buildings below them near the
store (as shown partially in my photo) are built in the same style and I remember
it well as it was cool in summer to play in the small building and the door setups
and tank appear much the same. |
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"A photo of my
Dad standing in front of the store's plate glass window."
"The Cotton
Gin (background) was owned or run by the Keisling family." |
Life & Times
I
had a pet hen raised from a little chicken that shared that back yard with me.
It would get in the cars of folks who left their car doors open which was common
then. It would always be returned as our friends knew it was my pet. But one day
it got in the wrong car and was not seen by me again. I still think of Sweet Pea
from time to time even though I have seen many pets come and go since then.
I have always had good memories of my childhood there, of the good people we knew,
the horses we rode to school at times and when we walked across Quitaque creek,
one of the tributaries leading into the Pease River which joins the Red River
which we called uphill both ways. This was because of what seemed to be at the
time, a steep incline on either side of the creek through which ran a little stream
most of the time and could be fierce after a heavy rain up on the caprock. At
those times it came down with a roar and those few families near enough would
go down to "see the water come down". Large boulders were not uncommon and getting
cars and wagons stuck was not uncommon.
Gray Mule is located between the
Los Lingos and Quitaque Creeks which had no bridges over any of
those crossings when we moved there in the early 1930's. It still rained at that
time, but before long that stopped but worse things were in store, such as almost
no rain at all for a very long time. We were on the inside edge of the dust bowl
during the same years as the Great Depression. That was the reason we had to move
to Quitaque. Before the
1950s my family had all left that area for the high plains and no more farming.
I was the only member of my family that appeared to remember it with such kind
thoughts. But then I was the happiest most cheerful of the four girls then later
two much younger brothers. Me and my brothers are the only surviving members of
my family.
With many thanks and kind regards,
Billie Mayhall Freeman,
September 16, 2010
More Gray
Mule, Texas Old Photos |
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Tunnel
and Section Crew in snow
1930s photos courtesy Billie Mayhall Freeman |
Gray
Mule, Texas Old Photos
"I
started school at Gray Mule and my Dad ran the store there for a short time. I
have some photos of the railroad
tunnels...." - Billie Mayhall Freeman
more
next page |
Gray Mule, Texas
TodayPhotographer's
Note:
Gray Mule was just up the road north of the cemetery.
Interesting
how the spelling has changed. - Barclay
Gibson, September 15, 2010 |
Gray-Mule
Community Historical Marker
Photo courtesy David Higgins, 2005 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Not listed in the Handbook
of Texas, Gray Mule and Edgin were suggested for inclusion by David Higgins of
Lubbock, Texas
who also provided some contemporary photos and the information below:
"Gray
Mule was a thriving community in the 1920's that included a cotton gin, schoolhouse,
blacksmith shop and even a baseball diamond.
We were able to find the
only remnants of this community at the Edgin Cemetery, which is shown on the historical
marker (it says "Gray Mule cemetery" but the actual name is Edgin cemetery).
The
Nature Trail
This nature trail is part of an old railroad that stretched
from South Plains, Texas
to Estelline, Texas and
includes the "Clarity Tunnel" that was constructed / carved out of a mountain
in 1927. The tunnel is about 2.5 miles southwest of the Gray Mule marker and measures
about 1/8 mile in length. It is now home to hundreds of Mexican free-tail bats
(completely harmless). We have visited the tunnel twice this year and were totally
amazed at how the railroad crews were able to build this huge tunnel......in 1927.
It is still in very good condition.
The entrance to the nature trail
is located 5 miles South of Quitaque
on FM 1065, then 2 miles west on FM 689."
- David Higgins of Lubbock,
Texas, September 13, 2005 |
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"Unknown
Cowboy
First Grave
Approx. 1890"
Photo courtesy David Higgins,
2005 |
Edgin
Siding - Gray-Mule
Community Historical Marker
Photo courtesy David Higgins, 2005 |
| Gray
Mule Historical Marker
Photo courtesy David Higgins, 2005 |
Quitaque Ranch Headquarter
Marker, 1936
Photo (taken at the same cemetery) shows this site was the original
headquarters of the Quitaque Ranch." - David Higgins, 2005 photo |
| "A painting
of what Gray Mule looked like back in the 1930's by Dude Purcell." - Courtesy
Renita Purcell Marshall | |
Gray Mule Texas"My
grandparents - Otis and Bessie Purcell - built the first grocery store in Gray
Mule in 1929. Their fourth child Otis Dean was born in 1930 in the living quarters
of the grocery store.
This is a painting of what Gray Mule looked like
back in the 1930's. Dude Purcell, my great uncle, painted the picture from memory
for my Dad Otis Dean Purcell. My family donated the painting in my dad's memory
to the Farimont Baptist Church in 2005 after my Dad died. Fairmont Baptist Church
is between Gray Mule and Quitaque,
Texas." - Renita Purcell Marshall, September 29, 2010 |
Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered
and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and
vintage/historic photos of their town, please contact
us.
Gray Mule Vintage Photos
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