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WELLINGTON,
TEXAS
Collingsworth County
Seat, Texas
Panhandle
Hwy 83 and 203
28 miles E of Hedley
30 miles N of Childress
Population: 2,275 (2000) 2,456 (1990)
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Wellington
Texas Landmarks
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History
in a Pecan Shell
The counties first resident settled the area in 1876.
When the county was organized in 1890, Wellington had a rival for
county seat. Only two miles from Wellington, Pearl City was
thought to be a shoe-in.
The management of the Rocking Chair Ranch urged their employees to
join the Wellington camp. The strange name was in honor of the Duke
of Wellington. (A distant relation of a Rocking Chair Ranch partner
was present at the Battle of Waterloo.) Voters in the county were
offered free town lots if they voted for Wellington. Hardly anyone
was surprised when Wellington defeated Pearl City.
Wellington got a saloon (moved from Pearl City) and a post office
(mail via Memphis) in
the same year of 1891. The county voted dry in 1898, eliminating the
saloon.
Cotton replaced cattle as the major
economic influence and the town had 600 people when the Wichita
Falls and Northwestern Railway came through in 1910.
The arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Northern Railway occurred
while the new courthouse
was being constructed in 1931 and further improvements in the city's
infrastructure resulted in an increased population. |
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Bura
Handley
Chances
are good that those citizens of Wellington whose age is less than
60 years may sometimes wonder just what the man whose name adorns
the Bura Handley Community Center was really like. Perhaps this small
accounting of history will provide some answers to that question,
as well as a degree of insight into the character, integrity, and
sheer genius of the man whom I was privileged to call my “Dad”, while
others simply referred to him as “Mister Wellington.” |
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