Follett

Follett, on State Highway 15 in northeastern Lipscomb County, was established in 1917 by Santa Fe railroad official Thomas C. Spearman as a townsite on the North Texas and Santa Fe Railway. It was named for Horace Follett, a locating engineer for the line. The town boomed almost overnight, as the citizens of Ivanhoe, Oklahoma, moved their homes and businesses across the state line to the new railroad. In 1917 Follett acquired a post office, and by 1920, when the town was incorporated, its population had grown to 550. The Farmer's Grain Cooperative soon made Follett a wheat and grain sorghum storage and distribution center and helped give rise to its nickname, "Gateway to the Golden Spread." By 1940 the town reported thirty businesses and a population of 431. During the 1980s the area produced grain and cattle. Beginning in the 1950s it also produced oil and gas. Modern irrigation techniques aided agriculture. In 1980 Follett reported thirty-seven businesses and a population of 547. In 1990 its population was estimated at 441, and in 2000 its population was 412.