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STRATFORD,
TEXASSherman
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) |
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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
Stratford Today
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
>
A Visit to Stratford
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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/AttractionsSherman
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."
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