The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1875-04-22
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.
Tho New county of somu ven

10 the Editor of the Dallas Herald;
For the benefit of Immigrants and
citizens who are seeking farms In north
Texas, | will give II brief description of
the new county Of Somervell, made
from observations which ! made In
visit TO that county last week. My
stay IN the county was short, aud my
observations not extensive, but suill-
clent TO furnish me u good general
knowledge Of 1t.
The county lies about seveniy-ilve
miles southwest Of Dallas, and hereto.
fore formed the southern part of Hood
county. IL contains, as at present con-
stltuted, something less than three
hundred square miles, but it is expect,
edthat the nextlegis.ature will2fd to it
portion of Bosque county, giving it
an area of over four hundred square
miles 1t has, ut present, population
of nearly five thousand people, which
II rapidly increasing. Until within
the past four years the chief business Of
the county was stock raising, for which
it Is well adapted, but the soil was
found to be too rich to remain unculti
waited, and now the inhabitants are
generally engaged in farming. 1t il
one of the best watered and timbered
counties in northwest Texas, being in
tersected by the Brazos river, PaluXy
and Squaw creeks aud other smaller
streams, whose valleys are covered
with an abundant growth of live, red,
post and other oaks, elm, ash, hickory
and pecan timber, and the hills Tor
mountains, as they are called in that
county, are covered with thick growth
of cedar or Juniper, which furnishes the
best material for fence rails. The soil
along the BraZos river Is rich sandy
clay and produces corn and cotton, il
is said, equal to the bottom lands of the
Mississippi river. The soil along the
Paluxy and Squaw creeks, and other
small streams, is equally rich black
alluvium, especially adapted to small
grain. | was told that thirty and
thirty-five bushels of wheat to the acre
is not an uncommon yield. The
high lands and prairies are well
adapted to grazing. The topography
of the county is well diversified by
rolling prairies and ranges of high hills
enclosing beautiful valleys, the dark
green cedars covering the tops and
sides of the hills giving a picturesque
effect to the scenery. The waters of |
the streams are clear, and flow over
solid beds of limestone, making the
urettiest streams to be found in north |
Texas. Good farming lands can be
bought cheap, and a good market for
wheat, corn and cotton, can be found |
at Glen Rose, the county seat.
The creation of the new county was
accomplished mainly through the |
efforts of our former fellow-towsman,
Major It. G. Jordan, formerly president
of the City bank of Dallas, who has in
vested over fifty thousand dollars in
Touring mill and other property at
Glen Rose. The mill, formerly known
as Barnard's mill, is a large, substan-
tial three story stone building, with
two sets of stones, run by water power
and turbine wheels. The dam across
the Paluxy is about one hundred yards
long, built of solid stone masonry, and
Is said to be the finest in the state; to-
gether with the race it has cost over
ten thousand dollars. In connection
with the mill, Major Jordan has cot
ton gin and press, through which near
ly all of the cotton of the county
passes.
Glen Rose is at present but small
village, with two stores of general mer- s
chandise, one drug store, and black 8
smith shop-not single whisky shop /
in the village. 1t has society equal ,
in refinement and intelligence to any |
in the state. Having been chosen the
county seat, Glen Rose will soon be-
come town of considerable size, aud
its fine sulphur springs, equal to the
best in Virginia, will make it, in
few years, place of general resort In
the summer months. Instead of re-
sorting to the watering places of Vir-
GINA and the north, our people can
find at Glen Rose as good water, good
beautiful scenery, good hunt
Ing and fishing, aud probably in year
Or two as good accommodations, and
1t less than halfthe cost of those places.
Major Jordan is now trying to get some
person to develope the
springs and erect suitable buildings for
,he accommodation of visitors.
Persons seeking good and cheap |
arms should make visit to Somer-
1ell before purchasing. AT Glen Rose
here Is fine opening for two or three
merchants with good stocks of goods. !
Il did not think that il would be a
,oor return for the hospitable treat
nent witch l received from the good