Stevens

STEVENS, TEXAS . Stevens, in northern Sherman County, was established as a switch on the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf in 1900 and was named for Steve Stevens, a conductor on that railway. Classes were held in the railroad section house before a one-room school was built on land donated by George Brady in 1910. Later a general store was built, and in 1920 the Riffe brothers built a grain elevator. A post office was established at the community in April 1929. In 1940 the school was consolidated with the Stratford district; the building was sold to Harry Sears of Stratford and its lumber was subsequently used for a house there. During the 1940s Stevens reported a population of twenty, but the improved highways in the area led to the demise of the town. Its post office was discontinued in 1943, and the store, which had a filling station, remained in business for only a few years beyond that. In 1987 only the grain elevator remained at the Stevens townsite, on U.S. Highway 54 between Stratford and Texhoma.