Located on FM 1954 about 2 miles west of Texas 79 (Across from Bowman Fire Station and School House)
Site of Early Bowman Church (Evangelical United Brethern Church) - BO on map
Organized as "Wichita Class" in Stringtown (Now Bowman) by settlers from Northern U.S.
For years German and English services were held. In 1888 a parsonage was built beside the school house where members worshipped. In 1893 congregation was named "Bowman" in honor of Bishop Thomas Bowman.
A church building was erected in 1897. In 1901 both church and parsonage were moved one mile south of town to this site.
The church played host to 5 annual conferences, 1900-1920. In 1932 it merged with First Church of Wichita Falls. (1970)
Across the road from this Historical Marker is the Old Bowman School House, that today is used as a community building. This building was in the movie "The Last Picture Show". It was depicted as an Oklahoma Highway Patrol Office.
Located at the north end of Bowman road. Bowman Road runs north from the intersection of Texas 79 and FM 1954. The maker is located inside the cemetery grounds.
Bowman Cemetery - BC on map
Land for this cemetery was donated in 1885 by W.A. Bacon to the Evangelical Missionary Society of North America. The first burial, that of Christina Schmith (b.1857), took place the same year. The unique sandstone mausoleum on the south side of the cemetery was built about the turn of the century by A.F Decker (d.1927) for his parents.
Many of the burials are those of German immigrants, reflecting the influence of the German culture in this area. A cemetery association was organized in 1940 to care for the graveyard.
This is the entry gate to the Bowman Cemetery. The marker is located about 50 feet inside the gate.
Founded in the late 19th or early 20th century as a wild west circus, the D.S. Dudley Show has been chief industry in Mankins for over half a century. Dick "Chyenne" Dudley (Born in 1896), a prize-winning bronc rider, bought the show in 1914, interrupted his career to serve overseas in the U.S Army in World War I, came back and married Ruth Wolf of Mankins.
Together they toured the southwest with the show 8 months of the year, employing as many as 250 people. Wintering here with their exotic animals. Younger generations of their family continue with the show. (1974)
Marker is located in Mankins, TX, on the south side of highway US 277 & US 82.
This is the Dudley House & Barn in Mankins, TX. It is on the south side of US 277 & US 82 just behind the Historical Marker. The barn was where the python lived in the off season.
By 1909 Archer County had outgrown it's original jail. A 16 foot square frame building. Construction on this larger facility was completed in Sept. 1910. The sandstone structure was designed with living quarters for the Sheriff and his family on the ground floor. The 2nd and 3rd floors had cells and a hanging gallows which was never used. The first prisoner held in this jail was arrested for stealing a horse. More than 8000 prisoners were jailed here until the county opened a new facility in 1974.
The old jail now houses a museum of old Archer County items.
The result of a 1923 oil boom, development of a town at this site included some twenty-two businesses, including a food stand operated by a man with the nickname "Dad", which provided a name for the settlement. Located at the crossroads were a hotel, cafe, school, school, stores, ice house, and more. Early residents remember tales of lawlessness and Texas Ranger patrols. The county's largest oil field was one-half mile southeast and many residents changed from cowboys to oil field workers. After the boom, Dad's Corner became a ghost town.
Last building in Dad's Corner. Picture was taken late 1950's or early 60's. It wasn't long after that store closed and was torn down. Store at this time was operated by Mrs. Howard (Opal) Lyles. There is nothing there today except the Historical Marker.
(1/4 mile Northeast and 5 to the South Southeast) (Of present day marker)
The civilized world first head of copper in this area from Texas Rangers after an 1860 campaign against the Comanches on the Pease River, about 100 miles to the Northwest. The Rangers Captain, Lawrence S. (Sul) Ross, later to serve Texas as governor, had nuggets picked off the surface of the ground and hauled to Austin. In 1861, assistant State Geologist S.B. Buckley charted the mineral site. The Rangers' ore haul was processed and used in gun caps for Confederate Forces during the Civil War. To get more of the needed metal, the Texas Copper Mining & Manufacturing was founded on May 28, 1864, but wartime shortage of men apparently prevented recovery of copper at that time. The T.C.M. & M. Co., based in Dallas, sent W.F Cummings to Archer County in 1880 to open the mining sites. Although the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture and Statisics reported in 1882 that no mining had commenced, ore was eventually hauled out and shipped to smelters in the east. No central vein or deposit could be found.
The Boston & Texas Copper Company of Tucson, Arizona, leased the mine site here in 1899. It produced some copper ore which was processed in El Paso, but again the project failed to meet expectations.
Map courtsey of Texas Department of Transportation and The University of Texas at Austin, General Libraries
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