Site of Chicago

(1/4 mi. N) W.C. Bishop of Chicago, Ill., and wealthy lumberman George N. Fletcher established the OTO (later Bar TO) ranch about 1887 on Fletcher's extensive landholdings in Dawson County. A post office was opened at the ranch headquarters on May 15, 1889, and named Chicago, both in honor of Bishop's home town and in humorous reference to the sparse population of the area. The postal facility served other large ranches in this vicinity, such as C. C. Slaughter's Long S. In the 1890s, Fletcher left the ranching venture, and A. F. Crowley and W. H. Godair became Bishop's partners. By that time, a village had begun to grow up around the post office. B. A. Oden served as OTO ranch foreman and postmaster of Chicago from 1894 to 1903. When Walter Stemmons replaced him in both positions in 1904, the settlement was renamed Stemmons. The same year, a post office was established in the new town of Lamesa, two miles south of Chicago. Dawson County was organized in 1905, and both towns entered the contest for county seat. When Lamesa won, residents of Chicago quickly relocated their homes and businesses there. The school and Baptist and Methodist churches also moved to Lamesa, within days, the community of Chicago had disappeared. (1977)

Site of Chicago is a historical marker in Lamesa, Dawson County, dedicated in 1977. It is one of 6 historical markers documented in Dawson County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 9 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.7533, -101.9586 near Lamesa. The nearest cataloged historic site is Dawson County Courthouse (courthouse), about 1.5 miles away. Others within a short drive include Pioneer Cemetery, M.C. Lindsey House, and Lamesa Farm Workers Community.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5115004754. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.