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History
in a Pecan Shell
The town is named after Englishman Andrew Kingsmill, a representative of
British investors who held the bonds for the White Deer Lands Trust. This company
had assumed control of the failed Francklyn Land and Cattle Company in the mid
1880s. Kingsmill was sent to check on things for the company in 1902 and look
into perhaps selling off the land. While there, Kingmill did a little investing
for his employer - a former British Prime Minister named Rosebery. A water well
was drilled on the land and naturally water brought settlers. In 1907 a depot
at the new community was built by the Southern Kansas Railway of Texas.
A
post office was opened under the name Elca in 1916 but the founder was
recognised with a name change to King's Mill in the 1920s. The oil discovery that
brought a boom to Pampa
also benefited King's Mill - and by the early 1930s there was a population of
400 people served by 16 businesses.
But after WWII
King's Millers left for greener pastures and Pampa
drew off much of the population. The town decreased to just 150 people by 1947.
The post office closed sometime before 1966 and from the late 60s through 1990
only 65 people were on the census.
King's Mill was suggested for inclusion
by Sharon Thomas of Pampa
who wrote: "Have you considered putting Kingsmill, Texas on the Ghost town list?
It is just a few miles west of Pampa located near the Celanese chemical plant.
There was some type of contamination and they bought everyone out and tore down
every structure in the town. All that is left is a grain elevator with a feed
store. As a child in the eighties, I remember passing through there, as I still
do today, and saw all the houses along the highway. They are all gone now, but
you can still see evidence of where the houses, barns, etc., used to be."
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