Spotlight Wichita Falls - A LWLNP Series

Wichita Falls was established September 27th 1882.  The Fort Worth and Denver railroad transformed WF from a small collection of tiny towns into a thriving market center.  The railroads made it possible for ranchers to ship cattle and farmers to market their goods to larger outlets.   

By the early 1900's Frank Kell and Joseph Kemp built and organized 3 railroad lines that linked WF to markets in larger cities. 

In 1918 oil was discovered in nearby Burkburnett Texas and a great oil exploration was starting up in North Texas.  Populations in both Burkurnett and Wichita Falls grew as business and towns sprang up overnight.  Oil was king for decades with some giants like Texaco, Guffy Oil Co, and Magnolia all attributed some of their success to the production of the oild fileds surrounding WF.  Area expansion in the mid-30's brought the Municipal Airport and Hardin Junior College (later becoming Midwestern State University) to the city.   While corn and wheat were a major cash crop for the area in the early days by the 50's WF carried the nickname of "Factory City" as it had over 100 manufacturing companies, 127 wholesale outlets and 741 retail stores.   

Now Wichita Falls is a thriving city with an estimated 104,000 residents.  When we moved here the art caught our attention.  I wanted to spotlight some of the amazing art, history and structures that make WF unique.  We are making this a series on the blog.

Enjoy a sampling of things to come....

Smooches,

Lucy