Historic Midland

doned saloon at the early-day community of
Slaughter. The first Greenwood Baptist Church
building was constructed in 1926 and added to
as additional space was needed. By 1997 the
congregation had outgrown the church facility
and plans were well under way for construction
of a new church building.
Greenwood-area rancher John M. King, Sr.,
who helped to start the Greenwood Baptist
Church, gave land on which the Greenwood
school buildings and Greenwood Baptist
Church are located.
Midkiff, which was located at a point (31° 41'
N 101° 54' W) about 25 miles southeast of
Midland, was started in 1902 by John Rufus
Midkiff as a way of getting mail to that area’s
ranchers. Midkiff also operated a general store
there, serving the needs of nearby ranchers.
In 1906, Midkiff sold out to T.M. Cotton,
who took over a year later. His daughter, known
as “Miss Ada,” ran the post office until 1912. A
school was operated for several years at Midkiff,
eventually moved to Dameron City, and ultimately
consolidated with other school districts.
Many students from the Midkiff area attended
school either in Midland or Rankin, in Upton
County, once the Midkiff school closed.
The Upton County community of Midkiff,
which is only 1.5 miles from the site of the original
Midkiff family post office, became known as
“Hadacol Corner” during the 1940s-1950s
Spraberry oil boom. It underwent significant
commercial development during that boom. An
oil camp also was started during the 1950s
boom, although not at the original site of
Midkiff.
Several businesses, many of them oil-related,
and churches continue to serve residents there
today.
Used by the Texas & Pacific Railroad to
attract prospective residents to the Midway
region in 1883, the community of Germania
flourished for a few years, and a post office
served that community from April 9, 1884 to
May 25, 1887, according to an article called
“Communities And Locales Of Midland County,
Texas” by Julia Cauble Smith in Midland County
Historical Museum. Postmasters who served the
Germania community included Gustav Bahnact,
appointed April 9, 1884; John Cottle, appointed
Sept. 3, 1884; and Fred Noristhiemer, appointed
Jan. 21, 1885 and reappointed June 21,
1885. On May 25, 1887, the office was moved
to Midland.
Originally a flag stop on the Texas & Pacific
Railway, Germania was located two miles south
of the Martin County line and eight miles northeast
of Midland along Interstate 20. The section
house was built in 1881-1882.
Many of the railroad workers were from
Germany and the railroad gave them land as an
inducement to settle in this part of the state.
Ms. Smith’s article noted that “Germania was
established as a land promotion by the Texas
and Pacific railroad in 1883. T&P surveyed and
laid out the town, offered other land owned by
the railroad for sale, and gave prospective buyers
free transportation to the area. A number of
German-descent people settled there and
named the community in honor of their native
country.”
According to Lee Meissner Foster, a halfdozen
section houses were located on the south
side of the railroad and served as homes for railroad
maintenance workers. The highway was on
the north side of the railroad and the store was
on the north side of the highway.
J.S. Moore, R.A. Moore and B.F. Reed were
among the community’s first residents in 1885
and 1886. Mrs. L.M. Sholte, who was the
daughter of one of the railroad workers, remembered
that when her father came in from work
he would get his gun and go kill a rabbit for
❖
This is another view of the opening of
the townsite of Slaughter showing the
crowd brought in by train for the
occasion.
Early Midland: City of Windmills | 35