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Childress (established 1887; incorporated 1890) is a city in Childress County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,105 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Childress County.〔(【引用サイトリンク】accessdate=2011-06-07 )〕 The city and county were named in honor of George Campbell Childress, a native of Nashville, Tennessee, who was the principal author of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The county and city were incorporated more than four decades after Childress's death.〔H. W. Brands, ''Lone Star Nation'' (Anchor Books, 2005), ISBN 1-4000-3070-6〕 ==History== Childress developed from two rival townships, Childress and Henry, which were about four miles (six km) apart on the former OX Ranch. Childress County was organized in February 1887 with the arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway. An election was held on April 11, 1887 to determine which town would be the county seat with Childress prevailing. A temporary wooden courthouse was constructed under the supervision of the prominent attorney Amos J. Fires. However, the Donley County court, to which Childress County was still attached for judicial purposes, declared the election illegal. R. E. Montgomery, the right-of-way and townsite agent for the railroad, favored the Henry location because it had a smoother terrain than Childress, a situation which would make the erection of a depot easier. Montgomery had also purchased half of the property in Henry. When Henry was chosen county seat in another election, Montgomery and Fires compromised. The name of "Henry" was simply changed to "Childress", and the businesses and residences were relocated by September 1887.〔(Handbook of Texas Online - CHILDRESS, TX )〕 The railroad built the Dwight Hotel, the section house, and the depot. The Childress Lumber Company followed. J. H. Christler became the first practicing physician in Childress. Amos Fires was elected county judge, a combined judicial and administrative position. He opened the first bank and initiated the county's public school system. In 1888, James S. Harrison launched the ''Childress County Index'' (later ''Childress Index''), the first newspaper in the community. By 1889, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Church of Christ congregations had been organized. The city was incorporated in 1890 with a population of 621. It had a post office, a restaurant, a livery stable, a boardinghouse, three stores, a Young Men's Christian Association facility, and a theater. There were also several saloons in Childress until 1904, when a fatal shooting prompted Childress to adopt local prohibition of alcoholic beverages.〔 In 1901, when the Fort Worth and Denver City railroad began considering Childress as a division point, Childress voters approved bonds and donated land to build shops and terminal facilities. These businesses, in addition to the influx of farmers and homesteaders, provided more jobs and resulted in a considerable increase in population—to 5,003 by 1910. Future automobile tycoon Walter P. Chrysler served as general foreman of the Childress railroad shops from 1905 to 1906. He then relocated to Iowa, where he worked as a master mechanic before he founded Chrysler Motor Corporation.〔 After a fire destroyed the first Childress County courthouse in 1891, a new stone building was constructed and used until 1939, when the present structure was built. On the courthouse grounds is a memorial to 20th century military veterans, a tribute paid in many Texas counties. For decades, a large windmill on Main Street provided municipal water.〔 The railroad remained the economic center of Childress into the 1940s. Extension of the Fort Worth and Denver railroad to Pampa, the seat of Gray County in the Panhandle, ameliorated the hardships of the Great Depression in Childress. In 1941, citizens appealed to the Interstate Commerce Commission to stop the railroad from closing its shops in Childress.〔 In the 1920s a brick high school building was completed. In 1929, the ''Childress News'' appeared in competition with the ''Childress Index''. In 1942, the ''News'' was leased by the ''Index''. In 1947, the ''Childress Reporter'' was established. After the depression and Dust Bowl era, modern farm machinery and improved highways reduced the rate of growth in Childress. The population was 6,464 in 1940. The railroad closed several shops, which were eventually razed. Lanchart Industries, Royal Park Fashions, and Fiberglass Corporation of America supplanted the railroad as the economic anchor of Childress. The population decreased from 6,399 in 1960 to 5,817 by 1980. Childress remains an agribusiness center with cotton gins and grain elevators. The first successful oil well in the area was not drilled until 1961.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Childress, Texas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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