Bull Town

(TSHA) ... Originally the community was the Hay Hook Line Camp of the XIT Ranch, and the ranch headquarters was one of the county's earliest buildings. When the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway was built through the ranch in 1898 a switch was placed at the site to be used by cowboys to unload cottonseed shipped in as feed. Some of this feed was invariably spilled along the tracks, causing XIT cattle to gather at the unfenced right-of-way. Often they lay down, compelling railroad workers to get off their trains and prod them off the tracks. As a result the site was labeled Bull Town, a name replaced by the more elegant Bovina when the post office was established on January 31, 1899. Bovina soon experienced a boom and for a time shipped a larger volume of cattle than any other shipping point in the world. Continued

Bull Town

Bovina, Texas, back in the day (KFDA)

(Texas Day by Day) On this day in 1899, Bull Town received the more refined name of Bovina when a post office was established.

The community’s obvious connection to the cattle industry dates from its origin as the site of the Hay Hook Line Camp of the XIT Ranch in western Parmer County.

In 1898 the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway steamed through the ranch, and cowboys unloaded feed at the XIT camp site. Continued

Trains and Cattle

 

Bovina, Texas

Bullish town settles down

Not Bovina

(Texas Day by Day) On this day in 1899, Bull Town received the more refined name of Bovina when a post office was established. The community’s obvious connection to the cattle industry dates from its origin as the site of the Hay Hook Line Camp of the XIT Ranch in western Parmer County. In 1898 the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway steamed through the ranch, and cowboys unloaded feed at the XIT camp site. Continued

Bovina Cemetery

The Marker reads: Prior to the founding of the city of Bovina, the XIT Ranch located its southern headquarters in this vicinity. The Pecos and Northern Texas Railway built through the ranch in 1898, and the settlement became known as Bull Town because of cattle frequently found on the tracks. A community developed around the railhead, and in January 1899 the official post office name became Bovina. Due to a boom in cattle shipping, the town's population began to grow after the turn of the 20th century. Since then, the city has owned this cemetery, which was maintained for a time by the Bovina Cemetery Association. The XIT Ranch initially used this site for burials of cowboys. Oral tradition holds that several gravemarkers initially bore only common names of the cowboys, such as Dusty and Big Jim. It is believed there were approximately 40 such graves, but all are now unmarked. The earliest marked grave is that of J.W. McDonald (d. 1907). Bovina Cemetery is the final resting place of veterans of military conflicts dating to World War I, as well as generations of area residents.

 

Signage: Beef Capital of the World

Bovina, Texas

Shabby Chic Designs

Bovina, Texas