Hockley County, Texas
Anton
Around 1924 ranch owner W. L. Ellwood sold off more than 200 farms from his ranch and contracted with the Anton Townsite Company to plat a town at the site of Danforth Switch, a spur of the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway. The site was named Anton in honor of J. F. Anton, a Santa Fe railroad executive. On December 3, 1924, the Anton Townsite Company sponsored a "Grand Opening Jubilee" for the town; despite a bad sandstorm, they sold over 200 town lots the first day. Early businesses included a depot, four lumber companies, a gin, a hotel, and a newspaper, the Anton News (later the Four County News, which ended publication in 1959). The first mayor was Paul Whitfield, and when the post office opened in 1925 the first postmaster was J. C. Arnett
Used with permission of the Texas State Historical Association, Denton.
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