Way back in 1913, the Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks through this part of Lee County, though at the time no town existed here. Gradually folks from Dime Box, three miles to the northwest, began to relocate here to take advantage of the railroad.
Sixty-five years later, in 1998, the Southern Pacific merged with the Union Pacific Railroad (technically the UP merged into the SP, but the surviving company took on the UP name).
One hundred and sixteen years later the trains still come through Dime Box, but these days they don’t stop.
The building that housed the saloon operated by Ray Spitzenberger’s father was located in the brick building to the left in this photo.
Update: Turns out that I was wrong when I said trains don’t stop in Dime Box. I should have written, “…but these days they don’t stop for commerce or passengers.” I’ve been told they do stop fairly frequently and block the crossing in town.