Sherwood - Texas Ghost Town

SHERWOOD

NAME: Sherwood
COUNTY: Tom Green
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 3
CLIMATE: Warm winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Winter, spring, fall

COMMENTS: A few residents.
REMAINS: The courthouse and other buildings which are occupied.

Sherwood has been described as one of the most picturesque ghost towns in Texas. Again, it was the railroad that caused the decline of what otherwise would have been a town in a beautiful tree-lined setting along the banks of Spring Creek In the 1870s, ranchers began to settle in the area around Spring Creek and by 1881 a post office was granted with the name of Sherwood, the name of a former owner of the land. In 1889, Iron County was organized and Sherwood became its seat of government for nearly half a century before it fell victim to the railroad. The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railroad bypassed Sherwood in 1911, creating a railroad town called Mertzon north and west of Sherwood. The new town, having the railroad and later the new state highway, drew much of the commerce away from Sherwood undermining the town's economic base. In 1936, the citizens of Ironwood County voted to move the seat of justice to Mertzon, thus sealing the fate of Sherwood. Today, the town is little more than a rural community but it still has its magnificent courthouse built in 1901 surmounted by a tower bearing a false clock with its hands set at the supposed time of Abraham Lincoln's death. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth	Sherwood Courtesy Dan Gulino

Sherwood has been described as one of the most picturesque ghost towns in Texas. Again, it was the railroad that caused the decline of what otherwise would have been a town in a beautiful tree-lined setting along the banks of Spring Creek In the 1870s, ranchers began to settle in the area around Spring Creek and by 1881 a post office was granted with the name of Sherwood, the name of a former owner of the land. In 1889, Iron County was organized and Sherwood became its seat of government for nearly half a century before it fell victim to the railroad. The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railroad bypassed Sherwood in 1911, creating a railroad town called Mertzon north and west of Sherwood. The new town, having the railroad and later the new state highway, drew much of the commerce away from Sherwood undermining the town's economic base. In 1936, the citizens of Ironwood County voted to move the seat of justice to Mertzon, thus sealing the fate of Sherwood. Today, the town is little more than a rural community but it still has its magnificent courthouse built in 1901 surmounted by a tower bearing a false clock with its hands set at the supposed time of Abraham Lincoln's death. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

Sherwood
Courtesy Dan Gulino

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