Old Gomez - Texas Ghost Town

OLD GOMEZ

NAME: Old Gomez
COUNTY: Terry
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 1
CLIMATE: Warm winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Winter, spring, fall

COMMENTS: Near Lubbock.
REMAINS: Not Much.

Gomez was a dream that didn't come true for three local speculators who purchased a section of ranch land in 1902 which they hoped would become the seat of government for the then unorganized Terry County. The promoters had the land surveyed and platted the town around a large public square, which someday was to become a courthouse. The town began to grow as merchants and other business establishments moved into Gomez. A year after the founding of Gomez, other speculators created a competing townsite about five miles to the east named Brownfield. The new town did not prosper as well and as quickly as Gomez but won the election for the seat of government when Terry County was organized in 1904. Gomez continued to grow and prosper. In 1916, the Santa Fe Railway planed a track through Terry County. The Brownfield promoters promised Santa Fe a free right-of-way if the tracks were to come through their town. That did it. The tracks reached Brownfield in 1917, spelling doom for landlocked Gomez. The town died during the next decade. A few residents moved their homes and businesses to a crossroads on a new highway about a half-mile to the east and called it New Gomez. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

Gomez was a dream that didn't come true for three local speculators who purchased a section of ranch land in 1902 which they hoped would become the seat of government for the then unorganized Terry County. The promoters had the land surveyed and platted the town around a large public square, which someday was to become a courthouse. The town began to grow as merchants and other business establishments moved into Gomez. A year after the founding of Gomez, other speculators created a competing townsite about five miles to the east named Brownfield. The new town did not prosper as well and as quickly as Gomez but won the election for the seat of government when Terry County was organized in 1904. Gomez continued to grow and prosper. In 1916, the Santa Fe Railway planed a track through Terry County. The Brownfield promoters promised Santa Fe a free right-of-way if the tracks were to come through their town. That did it. The tracks reached Brownfield in 1917, spelling doom for landlocked Gomez. The town died during the next decade. A few residents moved their homes and businesses to a crossroads on a new highway about a half-mile to the east and called it New Gomez. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

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