Welcome to Post, Texas
Post, Texas: home of ranches, rodeos, heritage, historic downtown charm, and holidays extraordinaire
Texas Fifty-Two-Step Tour

THE 52-COUNTY TEXAS PLAINS TRAIL is the largest of the ten Heritage Trails Regions of Texas, an award-winning heritage tourism initiative of the Texas Historical Commission. We help you discover the real places that tell the real stories of Texas--places you'll want to explore on vacations, road trips, hikes, weekend excursions with your family and friends.

We invite you to join us throughout 2015 for our Texas Fifty-Two-Step Tour--once a week online, and in person whenever you're ready to hit the road! Follow along with a different county each week, from Armstrong to Yoakum. Visit us at TexasPlainsTrail.com to plan your adventure by city, site, theme, or event. Watch your e-mail newsletter weekly for fun facts, games, prizes, and travel ideas.

Download our THC regional travel guide here (pdf).
And we'll see you along the trail!  
Post, Texas, shopping
Downtown Post entices shoppers with a wide variety of gifts and unique items, especially during Post City Crafters Days (formerly Post Trade Days), first Saturdays monthly.
Car content divider


Garza County, Texas
 
Garza County, Texas 
Click to download a map of the Texas Plains Trail Region (pdf) 
NESTLED IN AN ELBOW OF THE SCENIC CAPROCK ESCARPMENT is a town that might seem the unlikeliest site of a Midwestern cereal king's utopian community. But that's the genesis of Post, seat of Garza County since 1907, when C. W. Post of Post Toasties fame set out to demonstrate that a settlement centered on agriculture and a healthy lifestyle could flourish on the Texas plains.

Back when Post first came scouting in the area in 1906, remote, rugged Garza County, along the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River, had been the domain of large ranching spreads and, before that, the Comanches and earlier native tribes. Ranchers and other residents threw a barbecue picnic for Post, who took the occasion to suggest the establishment of a model farm colony and modern town. Cowboys working the OS Ranch - and their horses, it's said - voted for the proposition.

Cereal manufacturer C. W. Post (Library of Congress)
Historic Post City The Handbook of Texas Online relates the next chapters of the story: Post "purchased 200,000 acres of ranchland and established the Double U. Company to manage the town's construction. The company built trim houses and numerous structures, which included the Algerita Hotel, a gin, and a textile plant. They planted trees along every street and prohibited alcoholic beverages and brothels. The Double U. Company rented and sold farms and houses to settlers. A post office began in a tent during the year of Post City's founding. Two years later the town had a school, a bank, and a newspaper, the Post City Post. The railroad reached the town in 1910. The town changed its name to Post when it incorporated in 1914, the year of C. W. Post's death. By then Post had a population of 1,000, ten retail businesses, a dentist, a doctor, a sanitarium, and Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches. The Post estate pledged $75,000 and the town raised $35,000 in 1916 to bid unsuccessfully to become the site of the proposed West Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College, later known as Texas Tech University. Postex Cotton Mills, which began production in 1913 with 250 employees, [long] remained the town's leading industry. When the Post interests sold the business to Ely and Walker Dry Goods Company of St. Louis in 1945, the plant was producing six million yards of cloth a year and employed 375 workers who manufactured Postex cotton sheets and Garza pillow cases. Ely and Walker sold Postex in 1955 to Burlington Industries, the world's largest textile manufacturer at that time. By 1973 the company employed 450 persons. Oilfield service companies have been important to the economy, as have farming and ranching. In 1989 Post had two libraries, a hospital, a nursing home, an airport, the Post Dispatch (founded in 1926), and ninety businesses.

Today Garza County's diversified economy thrives on oil, agriculture, ranching, the corrections industry, wind energy, local retail, and tourism. Visitors to Post and the outlying locales of Close City, Justiceburg, and Southland will find plenty of history and amazing vistas to explore. (Information from tshaonline.org, Texas Atlas of Historic Sites)

Texas Historical Commission HISTORICAL MARKERS AND SITES   The Texas Historical Commission's online Texas Historical Sites Atlas  guides you to locations and information on museums, cemeteries, military sites, historical markers, national register properties, and more--including 52 listings in Garza County. Click and explore for history on your desktop! 
Car content divider

GARZA COUNTY QUICK FACTS
Founded  1876  County seat  Post
Population  6,461

Communities   Close City   Justiceburg    Post    Southland 

Mascots  Post Antelopes, Southland Eagles

C. W. Post from Texas Co-op Power DID YOU KNOW? After reading that rain often accompanies cannonading in war, C. W. Post planned "battles" to relieve droughts. He thought vertical air currents would condense vapor in atmosphere and cause rain. He first used dynamite airborne by kites, but soon replaced this dangerous method by setting off explosions on edge of Caprock. Post's experiments were said to have been 40% effective, and cost $50,000. He battled drought on farms until his death in 1914. (From Texas Historical Marker)

Read more in Texas Co-op Power's March 2011 article "C.W. Post: Cereal Czar and Rainmaker."

Post, Texas, Santa Fe Depot
Post's Santa Fe Railroad depot now houses its Chamber and Visitor Center.
WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO DO
Start your Post and Garza County excursion at the Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center located in Post's historic Santa Fe Depot, at the east end of town beside the railroad tracks. You'll find a warm welcome and lots of helpful information about attractions, dining, and shopping. While you're on that end of Main Street, visit the Silent Night Village, an outdoor pedestrian mall of brightly colored cottages that's the newest brainchild of Santa-maker Jackie Cruse (his Christmas Gallery is located on the same side of Main Street a few blocks down). Browse Main Street's many boutiques, gift shops, junk shops, and local businesses while you're at it.

Be sure to purchase a POSTcard to have POSTmarked at the POST office in POST!

Treasures old and new can be found throughout Post's shopping district.
Also on Main Street is the OS Ranch Museum and Fine Art Gallery, which displays art from its collectors' global travels, ranging from Hurd and Wyeth originals to arrays of Faberg� Easter eggs, Christmas cr�ches, and lovingly displayed sculptures. For more of the region's history, travel a few blocks west to the Garza County Historical Museum, formerly the C. W. Post Sanitarium and now home to artifacts and exhibits including Post's own office from Battle Creek, and Native and pioneer life.

Hungry? You'll find some tasty local fare just off the square, including George's, and Holly's Drive-in, a throwback to earlier times. And if you're staying overnight, consider the historic Hotel Garza, a B&B option among several modern chain accommodations. Year-round, live theater productions are mounted at the Ragtown Gospel Theater, which takes its name from Post's early nickname as a mill town.

Hotel Garza, Post
Hotel Garza, Post
Farther out of town, the old Postex Mill complex is no longer in operation. But it housed Post's popular Trade Days for many years after closing, and its distinctive mill village is still noted with a Texas Historical Marker as well. Continuing east past the railroad tracks you'll come to the Terrace Cemetery, on land provided by C. W. Post, and now also  home to the county's giant arrow marker on the Quanah Parker Trail. For breathtaking scenic drives through caprock country, from Post take FM 669 south to Gail, TX 207 north to Ralls, or US 380 east to the ghost town of Clairemont; the four-lane US 84 heads south to Snyder via Justiceburg and the turnoff to Lake Alan Henry, while US 84 north climbs the caprock toward Lubbock via the hamlet of Southland. Whichever way you travel, you can't go wrong if you want to appreciate West Texas vistas!

The OS Ranch Museum and Fine Arts Gallery houses two-dimensional and three-dimensional works in the former C. W. Post Land and Cattle Company office.
Sit a Spell in Post
The Caprock Cultural Association invites visitors to "Sit a Spell in Post" with its artifully decorated lawn chairs.
Garza County Historical Museum
The Garza County Historical Museum tells chapters of the region's story, including its roots in ranching and its contributions to rodeoing.
PLAN AHEAD

Ruby Lane Books, Post, Texas Open House and Book Signing Wed., May 20, 2015, 4-6 pm Ruby Lane Books, 127 E. Main St.: Meet proprietor Rosa Latimer, author of Harvey Houses of Texas (2014) and Harvey Houses of New Mexico (2015).
 

Post invites visitors to join in the fun at monthly and annual heritage events:
Post City Crafters Days, 1st Saturday of each month (beginning May 2, 2015)
Silent Night Village, 1st and 3rd weekend of each month
75th Annual Post Stampede Rodeo (August 6-8) and Parade (August 8)
Smokin' in the Park BBQ (August 21 & 22)
Tom Butler Memorial Bronc Ride (October 17)
C. W. Post Birthday Party and Cereal Cook-off (October 26)
Lighted Christmas Parade (December 5)

Taba'na Yuan'e is an annual sunrise wind ceremony that has been held each spring in this area since before the town was founded in 1907. Area farmers have continued this traditional ceremony to predict the crops for the coming year.

Below: Post is all about Christmas, from seasonal productions at the Ragtown Gospel Theater to the J. Cruse Christmas Gallery and Silent Night Village, to West Texas's only cut-your-own-tree location, the Double Shovel Christmas Tree Farm.

Car content divider

A WINNING HAND FOR YOUR TEXAS PLAINS TRAIL ADVENTURE

  Garza County card
Our Texas Fifty-Two-Step Deck of Cards is a sweet deal to help plan your trip. Pre-order yours now--each face summarizes a different county's travel highlights. $5.95 per deck (plus tax & shipping), in custom tuck box. Keep a deck in the glove compartment. Or use them in your favorite game of Texas Hold 'Em or Fifty-Two-Card Pickup!

AVAILABLE MAY 2015
Retailers and Texas Plains Trail partners, please contact us at 806.747.1997 or [email protected] for bulk sales and shipping.




'52 DeSOTO PHOTO FUN
Flat 52 Car Cutout As you travel the 52 counties of the Texas Plains Trail Region, take our Plains Trail kids and dog along with you -- in our #C52NTX 1952 DeSoto Ragtop (pdf). Download and print the graphic on heavy paper on your own color printer. Cut along the dashed line. Then glue a stir stick or popsicle stick to the back -- and feature it in your photos of destinations all around the region. Along the way, share your pix to www.Facebook.com/TexasPlainsTrail
Car content divider


TX Highway 52 "52" TRIVIA TIME

Here are a few things that happened in May 1952:
* Mr Potato Head is introduced
* TWA introduces tourist class
* 1st performance of John Cage's "Water Music"


FOLLOW US ON THE TRAIL . . . AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Garza County license tag
Like us on Facebook for regular event and travel updates. "See 52 in Texas" and discover great destinations by following our #C52NTX hashtag on Twitter, and statewide travel info on #TexasToDo. For driving and weather conditions, visit www.DriveTexas.org. And please with your Texas traveling friends!
Car content divider

WHERE IN THE REGION? COMING UP MAY 27
Texas Time Travel posters
It's quiz time! We've got great prizes to share.

To win a full set of these attractive 24 x 30 Texas Heritage Trails posters, suitable for framing, be the first to email us with the correct identification of this place, located in next week's featured county.

Congratulations to all our weekly winners so far. We have only a few of these collectible poster sets to give away!

The seat of next week's county was once home to songwriter Woody Guthrie of "This Land Is Your Land" fame. Name both the county and the city to win a prize!
Car content divider

PARTNER AND DESTINATION REMINDER
Partners, do take this opportunity to review your community, site, and event information on our Texas Plains Trail website as well as your own sites. We'll want to add your photos, update any obsolete contact info, add your events, and enhance your text content before your week comes up.  Consult the Texas Fifty-Two-Step schedule (pdf), and email with me with updates or questions.

Did you know you can add your own events to the TexasTimeTravel.com website? You'll need event name, date and time, location and address, and contact info -- and for best results, a photo. Post your festivals and heritage events now!

Like those Texas Fifty-Two-Step county license plate graphics? They are available free to partners for promotional use. Click and scroll down to select, then download your desired images. Please credit Texas Plains Trail/Tomato Graphics.

Our campaign has been designed by a team of creative minds. Our thanks go to Rock Langston of Tomato Graphics, Amarillo, for the design of campaign components and to Stephanie Price of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, for the #C52NTX concept. Barbara Brannon is responsible for copywriting and the weekly newsletter. Photo credits: 1952 blue Chevy Styleline, Hemmings Motor News; 1952 red DeSoto, Daniel Schmitt & Co.; 1952 blue Chevy rear 3/4 view, Walt Pinkston.

DID YOU MISS AN ISSUE?
Every week's issue is archived on our website.  Click here and scroll to search and download your county!
Car content divider

Texas Plains Trail Region | 806.747.1997 | E-mail | Website
Barbara A. Brannon, Executive Director

Copyright � 2015 Texas Plains Trail Region. All Rights Reserved.