VIRGINIA CITY, TEXAS. Virginia City was located two miles southeast of the present intersection of Farm roads 298 and 1731 in southwest Bailey County, twenty-five miles southwest of Muleshoe. It was platted on March 13, 1909, by Matthew C. Vaughn and Samuel D. McCloud. The original townsite called for a lot reserved for a courthouse and others for schools, churches, and a park. The same year it was platted, an Iowa land company bought the site and advertised for prospective buyers. A hotel was built to house visitors, and several stores were established. A roadbed for a railroad was graded through the town, although it was disputed whether the construction was genuine or merely a speculation trick. The venture failed, and the town was abandoned by 1913.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ed Ellsworth Bartholomew, The Encyclopedia of Texas Ghost Towns (Fort Davis, Texas, 1982). LaVonne McKillip, ed., Early Bailey County History (Muleshoe, Texas, 1978). Thelma Lee Stevens, History of Bailey County (M.A. thesis, Texas Technological College, 1939).

Charles G. Davis