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Texas Ghost
Town
SUNSHINE HILL, TEXAS
Wichita County
Farm Road 1739
5 miles NE of Electra
33 miles W of Wichita
Falls
Population:
Unk
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W.J.
Hester
Photo circa 1920 courtesy Kay T. White |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Named after a topographic feature (1,208 feet above sea level). The
school at Sunshine Hill (established in 1889) was consolidated with
the Electra District
in 1947.
The town experienced a minor boom in the 1920s but quickly reverted
back to a peaceful village. In 1936 the Wichita County map showed
a dispersed community and today the Handbook of Texas reports
that major structures had disappered from Sunshine Hill by the 1980s.
Our thanks to Gaylon White of Wichita
Falls who suggested a town page for Sunshine Hill. He wrote:
"This western part of Wichita County is a mix of oil fields and
prairie dogs. Several prairie dog towns can be seen in this area.
I have roamed this region all of my life and like the sparsly settled
country. It is also Waggoner Ranch Country and Sunshine Hill is reportedly
the highest elevation in Wichita County." |
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"L
to R Rear, my mother, Winnie Jeanne Hester, unknown lady, Evaline
McNeill" "L to R Front, Frances Ione Hester, Mary Frances
Martin McNeill (sitting) holding John Cornelius (J.C.) Hester, unknown,
and unknown" - Kay T. White |
Sunshine
Hill, Texas Forum
Subject: Photographs
My mother is no longer living, and I cannot confirm the location of
either of these photographs or even of all of the people in them.
My sister, Paula Ruder, and I are guessing on the dates and on the
locations. Either photograph could have been taken anywhere, as there
is nothing that would identify a location in or around Sunshine Hill.
We think the year could have been 1920 to 1923 on either of them.
My grandfather, William Reed Hester, married Gertrude Smoot of Gail,
Texas, and they had three children: W.J. Hester, Winnie Jeanne (my
mother), and Pauline. Gertrude died in the 1918 flu epidemic. He married
Evaline McNeill from Henrietta. They had five children, two of whom
were born in Sunshine Hill, Frances Ione and John.Cornelius. Frances
Ione was named after Eva’s mother Mary Frances Martin McNeill. I (Kay
Frances Taylor White) was named after my Aunt Ione.
I don’t know a lot about my grandfather, except that he was a mule
skinner, and seemed to follow the oil boom, and particularly the North
Texas oil boom. My mother did tell us a few things about living in
Burkburnette, Sunshine
Hill, and Electra. My Uncle Roy Hester told me that he remembers his
dad working for Magnolia at one time. My Uncle Roy remembered a job
that his dad had in Crane
putting in a road and hauling sand in a fresno (if I understood the
word correctly) pulled by mules. My mother used to tell us that my
grandfather was a very skilled mule skinner and was in much demand,
and my Uncle Roy confirms that. My Uncle Roy told me that my grandfather
and Uncle W.J. Hester owned a team of mules when they lived in Wink
in 1935, but they sold the mules to the Younger Brothers before they
became truckers. - Yours truly, Kay T. White, May 06, 2005
Anyone wishing to share history or photos of Sunshine Hill, Texas,
please contact
us.
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