A dugout near Hall County. Photos from the collection of John R. Ballew
JOHN R. BALLEW
The sodbusters bought their wooden homes through the Sears catalog.
Some built their homes using native stones.
A modern brick home in Memphis.
The Broome Home.
Most of the founders of Hall County arrived on the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad around 1888. They found their “Garden of Eden” was a “Sea of Grass.” The problem was you could not build a house out of grass. They dug a hole in the side of a hill outside of Memphis and survived until better materials were brought in on the train.
Some people built their homes using native rocks and whatever they co…
