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Cummins
Town Site Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, December 2009 |
Historical
Marker TextSite
of Town of CumminsThe
pioneer settlement of Cummins developed at this site about 1890 around the saddle
and harness shop of the earliest permanent settler, Mississippi native Robert
Benjamin Cummins (b. 1848). A post office opened here in 1890 with J.H. Kellis
as postmaster. The following year the nearby town of Sterling
City (1.9 miles east) was founded.
The two towns became rivals for
the designation of county seat when the Texas Legislature created Sterling County
from Tom Green County on March 4, 1891. An intense publicity campaign developed,
aided by the writings of the respective town newspaper editors: W. L. Thurman
of the Cummins paper, the "North Concho News", and S. R. Ezzell of the "Sterling
Courier". An election, conducted May 20, 1891, appeared to be a victory for Cummins
until several voting boxes were dismissed for technical reasons, resulting in
a tie. A second election on July 7 gave Sterling
City a 13-vote margin and it was named the county seat.
Most Cummins
businesses and residents had moved to Sterling
City by the end of 1891. Nothing remains of the early townsite, which once
included a school, saloon, meat market, mercantile, blacksmith shop, and grocery
stores. |
Photographer's
Note:
This is all
that is left of Cummins - Barclay
Gibson | |
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