WOLFFORTH, TEXAS. Wolfforth is on U.S. highway 62/82, Farm Road 179, and the Santa Fe Railroad, eleven miles southwest of Lubbock in southwestern Lubbock County. Like many towns of the region it evolved when the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway built through the area. It was established in 1916 and named for two brothers, George C. (Tildy) and Eastin (Easty) Wolffarth. George Wolffarth, an early rancher in the 1880s, held various county offices and was later president of the Citizens National Bank of Lubbock. Eastin, a Lubbock County sheriff around 1900, had also ranched in the area. Almost immediately confusion resulted over the spelling of the settlement's name. For a time the post office and the railroad depot (both established in 1923) had different versions. Eventually the misspelled post office version was adopted. Wolfforth was near the Spade Ranchqv and profited when the ranchlands were sold for farming in the 1920s and 1930s. The Wolfforth school was combined with three other rural districts in 1935 and renamed Frenship school. A population of around 100 was reported in 1940, when the town had three churches, a school, and a branch library. Five years later the community reported fourteen businesses, five school buildings, and a population of 150. After incorporating in 1950 the town instituted water and sewer service and street paving programs. The population was 597 in 1960, 1,090 in 1970, and 1,701 in 1980, when Wolfforth had thirty-two businesses. In 1990 the population was 1,941. The population reached 2,554 in 2000.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lawrence L. Graves, ed., A History of Lubbock (Lubbock: West Texas Museum Association, 1962). Mary Louise McDonald, The History of Lubbock County (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1942). Kathleen E. and Clifton R. St. Clair, eds., Little Towns of Texas (Jacksonville, Texas: Jayroe Graphic Arts, 1982).
Charles G. Davis
