Former Notla Community members gather in Perryton to celebrate historical marker

PERRYTON - About 100 community members, including family members who grew up in the Notla Community of Ochiltree County, were on hand Sunday for a dedication ceremony held at the Museum of the Plains in Perryton for a Texas Historical Marker recognizing the Notla Community as an important and educational part of Texas Panhandle history.

The Texas Historical Commission placed a historical marker on Texas Farm Market FM 281 near the intersection with Ochiltree County Road 26, about 26 miles southeast of Perryton. Established at the turn of the 20th Century around 1901, the small community was seen as a critical halfway point between Ochiltree and Glazier at the time. Today, it is about halfway between Perryton and Canadian. In 1920, a general store was built in the community, and the community applied for a post office under the name Alton, but it was already taken, which resulted in the spelling of the name backwards as Notla.

In 1924, the Notla School House was built, which became the center of the community until it merged with Perryton in 1939. The post office closed just two decades after it opened, and the last standing building, the school, burned down in 1966.

Kay Gregath, whose maiden name is Good, was one of the early settling families of the community who organized the event, which included many former residents who shared memories about growing up in Notla.

“We are here to commemorate our memories and to honor the pioneers who built the community in which we grew up,” she said.

According to Gregath, the community was fairly vibrant until the 1960s, but once the schoolhouse burned down in 1966, the community, which was getting older, kind of fell to the wayside.

“Also, once television infiltrated our lives, we did not get together socially as much as we did with the crowd getting older,” she said.

Speaking about the history of Notla, Gregath said the community was initially called Halfway-House because, in 1907, it was halfway between Ochiltree and Glazier and served as a connector for travelers to refresh their horse teams after a day’s travel. Over the last three years, Gregath has made it a mission to document the history of the Notla community.

“The state historical commission requires that you document every statement made in the application for the marker, which has to be proven by the original records if possible and not secondary records,” she said. “It took a while to hone it down to where it could be documented on the marker. There were so many things that happened that we had to cull it down to the pioneers of the community because those are the ones that started this. If they had not started the kind of lifestyle that they did, we would not have been the benefactors of this close-knit community.”

When asked why she had so many people turn out to celebrate a community that, to a great extent, stopped existing over a half-century ago, Gregath expressed that it is a testament to how close-knit the community was and the great memories that it left on former residents.

“The camaraderie of the families made such a strong connection as we shared each other’s joys and sorrows,” she said. “I call the other families and descendants my brothers and sisters because we were together so much.”

Speaking about the reasoning behind having a marker to commemorate this community, Gregath stressed that it is a testament to how the community pulled together to work with each other to improve their lives.

Her brother, Keith Good, 82, said he was proud of his sister and family's work in gathering the people and information to make this dedication possible. He praised the concerted effort that was put into reaching out to families through various methods, including newspapers and social media.

“We still have a ranch at Notla with the remnants of the Notla School House on our land," he said. “This event brought back such wonderful memories of the people we spent time with. I am glad that the community I grew up in and created so many memories is recognized with this marker. All of us were farmers and ranchers there, and these memories are deeply ingrained with our families.”

Keith Good says that seeing this permanent marker that recognizes the pioneers of a region so important to so many people who grew up there gives him great satisfaction.

“The relationships that we as kids built in the community with the events that we had in the old schoolhouse are forever with us, and now it will live on past us,” he added.

One of the few people who went to the school before it was closed was Cleo Turner, who is now 100. She described riding the bus for about an hour when she started high school in Perryton and being dropped off at the road still far from her house.

“It was a rich community where we did so many things," she said. "I have so many fond memories and miss those no longer with us."

Illene Floyd, who now lives in Canadian, spoke about her time in the Notla community and the connection it created.

“Old friends are the best friends, and there are so many of us gone that grew up there,” she said. “I think many people who are no longer with us would have such great memories to share. We had so many talented people that stepped in to do what needed to be done to help the community.”

Floyd says that one of her favorite memories as an only child was playing with the other kids in the corrals since there were no playgrounds.

“I really felt like everyone was looking out for each other; we had a sense of family in the community," she said. “We had no lights, electricity or even running water. We had to carry our water in. I think we can learn a lot from the lessons of Notla; to a great degree, we have lost the sense of community and visiting with each other. It has been such a wonderful experience, connecting back with all of these people.”

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Former Notla Community members gather in Perryton to celebrate historical marker