Outdated but Still Wanted

As our society develops, so do new techniques and equipment used for farming and ranching.

As America grows and changes, so does agriculture. Not just in the way that farmers and ranchers work, but technological advancements are sweeping through the agricultural industry.

But what happens to this outdated machinery? Most lay in fields and barns until sold for scrap iron.

However, the Hale County Farm and Ranch Historical Museum’s goal is recording these changes.

In 1971, P.L. Pollard called a meeting to discuss the possibility of forming a farm museum. The project languished for 10 years, and on July 13, 1981, it received its charter from the Texas Secretary of State.

The Hale County Museum sits on a five-acre site donated by the Master’s Trust, six grandchildren of Everett Masters. Masters was one of the museum’s early officers who pledged his support in 1971.

The first building donated was the Hale Center Santa Fe Depot in 1982. This building symbolizes Hale Center’s prosperity. As the Santa Fe Railroad spread across the Panhandle, Hale Center residents discovered the tracks would miss the town by three miles.

"They knew that if the train went east, Hale Center would not exist," Museum Director Elouise Rieff said.

Eight men from Hale Center, known as "The Dirty Eight," guaranteed the Santa Fe Railroad $75,000 if the railroad went through Hale Center. By July 1909, the railway from Plainview to Hale Center had been completed.

The Irrigation Building was donated in 1984 and houses George Green’s machinery.

"We call George Green the father of irrigation," Rieff said.

Green revolutionized farming on the South Plains. He was a qualified pattern maker and draftsman of the irrigation equipment he designed, manufactured and sold which made large-scale farming possible in West Texas.

Another piece of Hale County history present at the museum is the Pinkerton House. The house was donated to the museum in 1985, and five years were spent renovating and furnishing the house with many of its original pieces of furniture.

"Nine children grew up here," Rieff said. "So within a few years of living on the farm, the family had outgrown the six-room house."

The family added two additional rooms to the house, but the addition deteriorated before the house was moved to the museum.

In 1997, the Fred Howard family provided funds for the building of Howard’s collection of restored equipment. His collection includes tractors, stationary motors and one-row horse-drawn equipment. All pieces are in good working condition.

The J.M. Tye Family donated the Tye Building in 1998. Tye invented the first three-point mounted grain drill in North America, which is on display in the museum.

"This is the grain drill that they are still using," Rieff said.

Another interesting piece of machinery is a 1928 Farmall tractor.

"The men say that this is the only tractor that they have ever seen with the original cultivator and planter," Rieff said.

Outside there is a large variety of equipment collected from local farmers. They were chosen for their historical significance and rarity.

For example, a cotton chopper is a part of the museum’s outdoor collection.

"They (farmers) would plant a whole bushel of seed, I guess; and when the cotton got up a little ways and started growing good, they saw what their stand was going to be, and they would run it (cotton chopper) through there and it would just block that out as it went down the row and make equal spaces of cotton," Project Director Henry Rieff said.

Also part of the outdoor collection is a stationary Caterpillar Engine, which was used to pump water for irrigation.

"They were good engines, but they were sure hard to start," Henry Reiff said.

Horse-powered hay balers, a 1912 Case Steam Engine, tractors and manure spreaders are just a few pieces of the unrestored farm equipment present at the museum.

The Hale County Farm and Ranch Historical Museum will continue to grow, as does agriculture today. But the items at the museum will be around for years to come reflecting the old way of life enjoyed on the South Plains.