A predecessor of present Lubbock, this area was, in 1890, a subject of heated dispute by three factions (led by W.D. Crump, W.E. Rayner, and Frank Wheelock) that vied in the founding of the county seat.
Unlike most county seat debaters in Texas, though, these men had no long-established towns to support. Their main interest was in organizing the county.
In the course of the rivalry, the groups founded two settlements. the Crump faction, later joined by the Wheelock group and several financial backers, started "Old Lubbock" at this site. Called "North Town" because it was located north of Yellow House Canyon, the site took in section 7, block A, bounded by the present streets of Quirt, Ash, Erskine, and Kent.
The site soon attained a population of about 50 and boasted a reported 37 buildings, including the most historic one in the county: the Nicolett Hotel.
Rayner's rival settlement south of the canyon was named "Monterey" and was popularly called "South Town".
Suprisingly, though, the factions did not reach the permanent hostility common to such disputes. On December 19, 1890, they united in a compromise unique in West Texas history; and as a result, the city of Lubbock was founded on the site where it now stands.
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