MIDKIFF, TEXAS (Midland County). Midkiff existed briefly a mile north of the Upton county line in extreme southeastern Midland County. The trading settlement was established by John Rufus Midkiff, Confederate veteran, stockman, and farmer, who had initially come to Midland County in 1896. Midkiff established a trading post at his ranch for passing cowboys and settlers, possibly on a north-south trail from Fort Concho. A school was started about 1902 and a post office granted on May 12, 1904, with Midkiff as postmaster. The ranch and trading station were sold to T. M. Cotton in 1906, the same year the school was consolidated with the Midland school. Local mail service was available until the post office was moved to Midland on March 15, 1911. No evidence of Midkiff appeared on 1980 county maps except a triangulation station by that name east of State Highway 249 in southern Midland County.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ed Ellsworth Bartholomew, The Encyclopedia of Texas Ghost Towns (Fort Davis, Texas, 1982). Midland County Historical Society, The Pioneer History of Midland County, Texas, 1880–1926 (Dallas: Taylor, 1984).
