County Seat: Post * County Population: 4,877
The Garza County Courthouse was built in 1923 in a Texas Renaissance style as designed by C.A. Carlander. The county was named for an early Texas pioneer family.
June Rayfield Welch, author of “The Texas Courthouse Revisited,” described the founding of the county seat, Post, as follows:
Charles W. Post’s decision to found a town stimulated activity. The breakfast cereal king had bought 213,324 acres. In 1906, at the OS Ranch, Post and others obtained 75 signatures (some questionable) on a petition. An election was held on July 5, 1907, and Post City became the capital. A room in the Double U Building housed the government for a rental of $5 a month.
The county purchased a lot from Post and built its inaugural temple of justice in 1908 for some $4,000. The second and final county capitol was erected for $65,490.
To help alleviate the area drought, which at one point reduced the number of residents to a mere 14 souls, Post experimented with aerial dynamite explosions in order to induce rain. He had learned of the procedure when reading that rain often followed artillery battles. Some say Post’s “rain battles” had a 40 percent success rate.
As Post envisioned his “dream city” he was drawn to the area’s natural beauty where the head waters of both arms of the Brazos River join to outline the scenic Caprock Escarpment of the Llano Estacado. Post is actually nestled three miles below the Cap Rock, 40 miles southeast of Lubbock on Highway 84. The area quickly became known as the gateway to the West Texas Plains.
Most of the downtown buildings still standing in Post today were constructed between 1907 and 1937 and include the Algerita Hotel, the C.W. Post Double U Building, and the old First National Bank Building. Charles Post placed a high priority on cultural experiences, and many of today’s tourist attractions stem from his original vision. For example, the Garza Theatre produces eight shows a year including a summer festival, and the Art Center housed in the historic Algerita Hotel offers several exhibits a year. The area’s rich history is chronicled in the Garza County Historical Museum, located in West Texas’ first sanitarium, and McCrary’s OS Ranch Museum.
Tourists and homefolks join in early August for the three-day Post Stampede Rodeo, which offers a snapshot of the Old West in true cowboy style. Visitors also frequent the area to take in Lake Henry, situated 22 miles southeast from Post in Garza County on the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River. The lake, when full, covers 2,880 acres and contains approximately 40 billion gallons of water. White River Lake, which crosses the southeast corner of Garza County, is a tributary of the Salt Fork of the Brazos River and has a surface area of 1,418 acres.
(Texas Almanac 2008-2009)