open door to education

 

The first school in Sandhill was built in 1892 and schooling continued in the community until consolidation with Floydada in the 1950s. Today the school's portal and back wall are all that are left standing.  The post office closed in 1943; the store closed in 1984, but it appears the grain elevator business is still in operation.  The elevator, one occupied house with three dogs and an abandoned church are all that is left in Sandhill.

 

 



 

Sandhill, Texas

Floyd County

FM 378 and 874

school graze

Today I did a "dot tour" -- those dots on the map that represent early communities of the South Plains.  Like Lubbock County, Hale and Floyd counties had numerous small schools -- go about 10-15 miles and there's another cluster of civilization with names like Carr's Chapel, Sandhill, South Plains, Lone Star and Providence.    Each place is marked by maybe a church, a school, a gin or elevator, a store -- what determined if the town thrived or died?  Some places have only have a marker to indicate a school was there, like Pleasant Valley or Providence.

South Plains  flourished in the 1920s.  The post office was moved twice before settling by the Fort Worth and Denver railroad.  Today the railroad is gone but South Plains marks the western terminal of the Caprock Canyon State Park Trailway which follows the former railbed.  South Plains school opened in 1928 and closed in 1978.  Instead of the laughter of children on the playground, the schoolhouse echoes the mooing of cows.

South Plains, Floyd County, Texas
SH 207