Running Water Draw Carries a Name Through Plainview

Plainview is famous for the plain, but a named crease runs through it. Running Water Draw cuts southeast across Hale County and through the city. At the USGS stream gauge in Plainview, the draw has 382 square miles of contributing drainage. Even in dry-looking country, runoff has a path.

The name also belongs to the county's settlement history. Running Water Draw lay near the headquarters of the Morrison ranch, established in 1881. Northwest of Plainview, settlers opened a post office called Wadsworth in 1890. The next year, promoters renamed the community Running Water, a school went up, and the town was platted. The railroad chose another route.

In 1928, local businesses moved three miles north to the Edmonson switch. The post office followed in 1935 and was renamed Edmonson two years later; old Running Water was abandoned. The draw still crosses Plainview, while Edmonson keeps the next chapter of the name nearby. One water line ties together a modern gauge, an 1881 ranch headquarters, and a community the railroad moved.