DOLLAR DAY

Among the attractions in Stinnett, visitors will find the historic McCormick House, one of the oldest surviving structures in the Hutchinson County. Originally located two miles northeast of present-day Stinnett, the simple lumber house was built by settlers Isaac and Capitola McCormick in October of 1899. The McCormicks, who raised ten children in the house, first lived in the covered wagon that brought them to the Texas Panhandle until the house was completed. The lumber used to build the house, purchased in the community of Panhandle, 35 miles to the south, was freighted by a wagon team across the Canadian River.

By 1901 citizens organized Hutchinson County, enlisting the house as election headquarters, inspiring its designation as “Birthplace of Hutchinson County”. Today, the house serves as museum, opened to the public periodically and managed by civic organizations including the Golden Spread Grandmothers Club, the Stinnett chapter of the National Federation of Grandmothers Clubs.

In 1926, the community of Stinnett was formally established in order to provide a shipping point along the Amarillo branch of the Chicago, Rock Island & Gulf Railway. Some of Stinnett’s first residents arrived to the area courtesy of a period in which events known as “Dollar Day” picnics were organized by promoters to draw interested investors to the community. The events were successful, aiding organizers in selling almost half a million dollars in town lot sales in less than four months.