How Rivaling The County Seat Made A Texas Panhandle Ghost Town

The Texas panhandle is full of ghost towns. One of those is Mendota, Texas. The story of Mendota is a lot like that of other ghost towns in the region. It never got a chance to blossom, and never found a way to set itself apart from the surrounding towns. Mendota gave it a good try though, and at one point had plenty to offer.

Mendota, Texas; Once A Siren Song For Missouri Farmers, Now A Ghost Town

According to legend, Mendota was set up to try and lure farmers from Missouri to the "greener" pastures of the Texas panhandle. It was established in 1887, and supposedly 100 people took the bait and moved to the little town in Hemphill County. There they would have access to a school, a church, a store, and a post office. There was even a lumberyard to help facilitate the growing community.

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Twenty years after being founded, Mendota would pull a move that many towns in the Texas panhandle have pulled. They picked up from where they originally started and moved closer to the railroad. Unfortunately, this move wouldn't do much for the growth of Mendota.

It's A Tale As Old As Time; It's Hard To Fight The County Seat

Mendota's location close to Canadian, Texas supposedly didn't do it any favors. According to legend, people would just travel to the neighboring county seat to do most of their trading. It's a hard lesson learned by many ghost towns of the Texas panhandle. You just can't compete, most of the time, with the county seat.

Mendota would do its best to hang on, though. It became a hub for grain and cattle, despite many farmers being fed up with the supposedly sandy soil. The post office would remain until 1944. By 1948, all that would be left of Mendota was supposedly a small rural school and a switch for cattle.

Today, when you search online for Mendota, Texas, you're greeted with pictures of people deer hunting out in the vast open spaces of the Texas panhandle. Not much remains of the town today.