needs more everything

 



Needmore was so named because townsite promoters “needed more” settlers. After the town's founding in the 1920s, it never grew significantly.  It is located between Baileyboro and Circleback in Bailey County - neither of which flourished either.  Be sure not to confuse this Needmore with the  other three Needmores in Texas.  The nearest is the Needmore in Terry County 55 miles away-- and it needs more everything too!

Needmore, Texas
Bailey County, Texas
State Highway 214 and Farm Road 298
8.29.2015

 church sign 

Circleback, at the junction of Farm roads 298 and 3397, is another candidate for a Texas ghost town.  It was named for a nearby ranch whose brand was a circle on the backs of cattle. From 1918 to the mid-1950s there was a six-grade school and about a dozen houses, a filling station, and a store-post office, which burned in 1954. In 1949 the community had 100 people. By 1980 the population had dwindled to forty-nine, and it is reported that by the mid-1980s only the Baptist minister and his wife and two children remained. The Circleback Baptist Church is still conducting services, although all the other buildings are abandoned.   I was curious to learn more and a google search showed many funerals taking place at the church.  Then I discovered that issues of the "Littlefield News: Lamb County Leader" newspaper were archived online at the Texas Tech Southwest Collection.  I lost part of my afternoon reading news items from times past.  Of interest was this from the August 30, 1923 edition: "A large number of Baileyboro folks attended the all day singing at Circleback Sunday. A sumptious dinner was spread and heartily enjoyed. The Richland, N. Mexico singing class furnished the music Sunday afternoon. Everybody agrees that Richland people know how and what to sing." No matter the size of the villages or the distance in-between, people made their own good times.

Circleback, Texas
Bailey County, Texas
8.29.2015

buried on the lone prairie
 

The intersection of Farm Road 298 and washed out County Road 123 marks the final resting place of some 65 souls who lived at Baileyboro.  Only a few markers stand visible above the prairie grass to catch the eye.  One must walk the cemetery to feel the desolation of the place.  Only a few graves remain to mark a one-time community on the plains.  Times must have been hard.  It was sad to note the number of children's gravesites. 

 



 

G. D. French buried two infant sons at Baileyboro and marked the places with hand-chiseled rocks.  The family must have moved on because there are no other French family members buried there.  The boys were gone but not forgotten because nearby are two modern headstones simply inscribed "Baby Boy French" and the dates 1924 and 1931.

 

 

Scattered among the old tombstones and unmarked graves are newer stones placed to remember loved ones.  There was a burial as late as 20 years ago.  Even if the town no longer exists, it was still home.

Baileyboro Cemetery
Bailey County, Texas
8.29.2015



 



 

 

 

baileyboro east

 

Today's destination was Baileyboro.  Any trip requires a plan-- consult the Texas Backroads Atlas and select a place you've never been to or even heard of!  And if the map shows a cemetery nearby, even better!  To get there I drove through Bula, Circle Back and Needmore.  Baileyboro is on Farm Road 298.  It's not only a wide place in the road -- it's on the curve.  When the community was settled in 1900, the road was only a wagon track.  In 1921 the community built a school and for a short time had a post office. According to the 1941 Texas Almanac, Baileyboro had three stores, a school and a population of 100, which was its peak. In 1980 the population was sixty-one. In 2015 the population was zero and only a sign marks the site of a former community.

 

baileyboro west

 

 

Baileyboro

Farm Road 298

Bailey County, Texas





bula cemetery

Although some may think it morbid, my favorite places to visit are cemeteries. Of all those I have seen, the Bula Cemetery is the saddest. Generally, out here on the plains, one can locate a cemetery from afar by sighting the "cemetery trees" (evergreens) which are often planted there. The Bula Cemetery has no trees and there are no headstones on individual gravesites. Instead, only a marker lists those who are buried there. A bench offers a resting place to ponder the history of this forlorn graveyard. Saddest of all are Billy and Bernie, the one year old twins, buried alone with no family.

Bula Cemetery
FM 3397
Southeast Bailey County, Texas
2.24.2012