Kirkland, Texas

34°22′45″N 100°3′41″W / 34.37917°N 100.06139°W / 34.37917; -100.06139CountryUnited StatesStateTexasCountyChildressElevation1,696 ft (517 m)Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST)) • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)Area code940GNIS feature ID1360698^[1]

Kirkland is an unincorporated community in southeastern Childress County, Texas, United States.^[1] According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 102 in 2000.

History

Kirkland was most likely named for an early settler called J. C. Kirkland. Originally, it was located on a stage route from Wichita Falls to Mobeetie in Hardeman County, seven miles northeast of the current location. Early in the 1880s, a stagecoach and relay station was erected there. Soon after, the town had two saloons, a general store, and a traveler's inn. The town's residents transferred it into Childress County to be on the new line when the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway arrived in 1887. John Quincy Adams, a nearby homesteader whose land the railroad tracks were installed on, platted the new townsite. Kirkland prospered as more farmers moved there, and by 1890 it had a post office, a mercantile store, and cattle shipping pens. The town's expansion was momentarily halted by the panic of 1893, but by 1900 it was once again thriving. When Crone W. Furr founded his first mercantile store in Kirkland in 1905, the Furr's Grocery and Cafeteria corporations were born. Known as the "Biggest Little City in Texas," Kirkland boasted many enterprises by the 1920s, including a bank, three hardware stores, two lumber yards, two grocery stores, two barbershops, and five filling stations. In 1940, there were 500 residents. After that, though, Kirkland saw a slow drop due to better transportation and modern farming techniques. As of 1980, the town's significance as a wheat-shipping hub was confirmed by the presence of three grain elevators, despite the absence of two churches and one general shop. Kirkland had a population of 100 in 1984 and got two new residents six years later. The population remained at 102 in 2000.^[2] Its population went down to 44 in 2010, then to 25 in 2019.^[3]

On April 27, 1912, a strong F4 tornado struck Kirkland. It killed five people, injured 23 others, and caused $65,000 in damages. Four of the five deaths were in a single family. The tornado struck 43 farms and destroyed or damaged 30 homes, some of which were swept away.^[4]

Geography

Kirkland is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 287 and Farm to Market Road 1033, 8 mi (13 km) southeast of Childress and 20 mi (32 km) northwest of Quanah in southwestern Childress County.^[3] The community used to be on Texas State Highway 5 in February 1930.^[5] Loop 6 also used to travel through the community from September 26, 1939 to October 5, 1972.^[6]

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Kirkland has a semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.^[7]

Education

Kirkland had a three-room school in the 1920s. It joined the Childress Independent School District in 1958.^[2]

Kirkland Cemetery

Located approximately one-half mile from the current Kirkland town site, the Kirkland cemetery is two long wooded savannahs of marble headstones along a dirt road, containing the last earthly remains of citizens back to 1908. The land the cemetery sits on was donated by James William Sharp sometime before March 1908. James W Sharp, his first wife Alberta, as well as two children, are of the 725 well-marked gravestones that stand on this site. There are also 45 veterans, including 7 Confederate Veterans of the Civil War, 10 World War I veterans, 22 World War II veterans, three Korean War veterans and three Vietnam War veterans.^[8]

References