Wilson, Texas
| Wilson, Texas | |
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| City | |
The Green Building in downtown Wilson.
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 Wilson
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| Coordinates: 33°19′01″N 101°43′27″W / 33.31694°N 101.72417°WCoordinates: 33°19′01″N 101°43′27″W / 33.31694°N 101.72417°W | |
| Country |
 United States
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| State |
 Texas
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| County | Lynn |
| Region | Llano Estacado |
| Established | 1912 |
| Founded by | William Dickson Green |
| Elevation | 3,120 ft (950 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 532 |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6) |
| ZIP code | 79381 |
| Area code | 806 |
| Website | Handbook of Texas |
Wilson is a small rural city in the northeastern quadrant of Lynn County, Texas, United States.
The town of Wilson was established in 1912 by William Dickson Green of Shiner, Texas, and Lonnie Lumsden. Early settlers included German and Polish emigrant farmers that acquired property on former Wilson County School lands located in Lynn County, hence the city's name.
Wilson was founded in anticipation that the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway would lay tracks through the area. The Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway Company was one of the two major operating subsidiaries of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company (Santa Fe) in Texas, with lines crossing the Texas Panhandle and South Plains regions as well as a line across the Trans-Pecos to Presidio. A branch line between Slaton Junction and Lamesa was constructed in 1911 and this line would pass directly through Wilson.
In 1917, William Green built the "Green Building" that housed a mercantile store that quickly became the center of activity in this small town. The couple most involved in operating the store were Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Williams, who managed the store from 1916 to 1936, when Mr. Williams died. Mrs. Williams continued to manage the store for another few years until the early 1940s. In 1963, the citizens of Wilson celebrated the renovation of the Green Building and, today, the refurbished building serves as City Hall, historical museum, and continues to be a community gathering spot.
In 1923, Wilson, with only twenty residents, was among thirty-seven communities that applied to become the home of the new Texas Tech University, which was instead located to the north in Lubbock. Wilson offered the choice of six thousand acres for the institution, three times the amount required in the legislation authored by State Senator William H. Bledsoe of Lubbock, whose district included Lynn County. The institution could have picked any arrangement of land without disturbing any individual or even moving a fence.
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Wikipedia