|
|
STRATFORD,
TEXAS
Sherman County
Seat, Texas
Panhandle
Sister City to Streaky Bay, Australia
On Highways 287 and 54
On the top of the Panhandle
75 miles N of Amarillo
Second county to the right of New
Mexico
Bordering on Oklahoma
Population: 1,991 (2000) 1,781(1990)
|
 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Stratford had a dispute over it's right to be the County Seat of Government,
even though there had been an election. Counties of Lavaca and Van
Zandt, had had similar problems, except in this case, Texas Rangers
were called in to settle matters. Stratford won, or you would be reading
the Coldwater
Town Page.
The name was after Robert E. Lee's boyhood home, although some say
it was after William Shakespere's Stratford-on-Avon. Actually, Stratford-on-Coldwater
has a nice ring to it. A Mr. Colton, manager for Aaron Norton, town
developer, was the one to suggest the name.
The town laid out by Norton and Colton was on the Chicago, Rock
Island and Gulf railroad and a new post office was opened there.
Before that, Coldwater had been the only post office in Sherman County.
The election was held July 1901, and Coldwater
lost the election and the county seat.
By 1904 only the post office, a store and the now-vacant courthouse
were left in Coldwater.
The post office closed in 1907 and the courthouse was occasionally
used as a church. We were told that stones from the 1901 Stratford
Courthouse were used to create a small dam on the Coldwater Creek.
Peak Population was 2,139 in 1970
The chamber reports that there are over 25 residences in town dating
to 1900-1910
In addition to the houses, Stratford retains its old railroad depot
as the Sherman County Museum.
Sherman
County Courthouse - next page
|
The
old railroad depot. Today the Sherman County Museum.
See Texas Depots |
Men,
Women, and ?
Outhouse/Restroom |
Stratford
billboard
Photo courtesy James Feagin, 2002 |
Stratford
Landmarks/Attractions
Sherman
County Courthouse
Sherman
County Depot Museum
Main Street and US 54 - Hours: Monday through Friday 2 to 4.
While the History of Sherman County, God, Grass and Grit (Vol. One)
is in it's third printing, copies of Volume II are still available
at the museum.
The
Stratford Chamber of Commerce
806-366-2260
318 North Third Street
Paula at the Stratford Chamber of Commerce points out that the citizens
of Stratford are closer to the state capitals of three other states
(Santa Fe NM, Denver CO, and Oklahoma City OK) than they are to
Austin. She also would
like to say that not everyone regards Dallas
/ Ft. Worth as "North
Texas."
More
Related places & photos:
Texas | Online
Magazine | Towns | Panhandle
| Texas Railroad
| Route 66 in Texas
|
|
|
