Historical Marker

Old Home Ranch

Historical marker location:
Claude, Texas
( At Harrell Ranch Headquarters, 27.5 miles SW of Claude on FM 1288)
Marker installed: 1970

First ranch in the Panhandle, established in 1876 by Charles Goodnight (1836-1929). The original ranch headquarters, located on the south side of the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River (7 miles SE), was built by Goodnight in the fall of 1876. In June 1877, Goodnight entered a partnership with Irishman John G. Adair and founded the "JA" Ranch. Adair died in 1885, and his wife, Cornelia Ritchie Adair, assumed the partnership with Goodnight until its dissolution in 1887. The Old Home Ranch headquarters burned in 1904. Edward Harrell purchased 35,000 acres of the "JA" in 1917, including the old ranch. (1970).