In 1935 during the Dust Bowl, the Resettlement Administration bought land and planned an experimental Industrial Farm.
Rexford Tugwell, the administrator, wanted to determine the feasibility of rural farming on the plains, calling the project Ropesville.
With the 4000 acres Resettlement Administration had purchased, they carved it into thirty-three farms, Each around 130 acres and every farm was fully developed with a windmill, water well, barn and corral. Eventually the project expanded to seventy-nine units. The Farm Security Administration took over the project in 1937.
Lubbock boosters took a dim view of the project because it abandoned the frontier model of settlement and appeared to reward poor and lazy farming.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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