STANTON, Texas — People who have ever drove through Stanton have probably seen a huge sign that says: "Welcome to Stanton: Home of 3000 Friendly People and a Few Sore Heads".
"And I think most old sore heads are dead, but I could be wrong," Martin County Historical Society President Mike Black said.
Friendly people and sore heads are who you can expect to meet if you enter the Stanton city limits.
Limits that started with a completely different name.
"Of course the original Stanton was located to the west of here as Marienfeld, which is just a little bit West of Farm-to-Market 829," Black said. "And because of a lack of water, whatever in the early or late 1800s, they moved it to Stanton and renamed it from Marienfeld to Stanton."
Stanton was started by some German Catholic priests who started the Martin County Convent.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CONVENT: After almost 140 years, the Martin County Convent is continuing to build on its historic legacy
Later on, residents of Stanton wanted their town to stand out, and what better way to do that than by building a larger-than-life sign?
"Somewhere in [19]49 to 50, The Stanton Lions Club decided as a project that they were going to put a sign up on the west side of town and one on the east side for people passing through," Black said.
They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and they definitely weren’t kidding with this sign.
And ironically for something so large…
"They hired the gentleman by the name of 'Shorty Bland,'" Black said. "He must have been short: Shorty. He must have been an excellent painter and he had commissioned him to do the writing for the signs. As you can tell by looking at the sign, it had 'Farming, Ranching, Oil and Irrigation': the original sign. It's been modified somewhat over the years, and some of them just say Ranching, Farming, no oil. Now we have oil again."
A more recent edition to the sign came after Stanton High School was on the top of the world: when they were the 2A Football State Champions in 1997.
"It just happened to come together to where it was a great bunch of kids," Black said. "And instead of wide-open football, they more or less run the ball and won the state championship!"
Alright, time to answer the question on everyone’s mind: what's a sore head?
"A sore head is somebody who doesn’t quite see eye-to-eye with the thinking of the majority, has his own opinion. And let me tell you, they're in Stanton, they're in Midland, they're in Coahoma. They're everywhere! And if you've ever run for office or anything, you find those sore heads they don't like to change-- like, like me: I don't want to drive an electric car. I'm going to drive a gas car. Just because of my age!"
And just because they don’t see eye-to-eye with the majority, that doesn’t mean Stanton isn’t an amazing place.
"Stanton and Martin County is a great place to live because in the time of needs, especially in the farming community, and if somebody had a heart attack or a family emergency, they would fly in there. And what might take him a week, 10 days to get his crop out, they get it out one day for him," Black said. "And so people in need, Martin County is always responding to that request. And that's one of the good things about it."
And with 3,000 friendly people, give or take, it’s safe to say that once you pass one of those signs, you’ll be greeted with that Stanton kindness, just as advertised.
FOR MORE UNIQUELY WEST TEXAS: Roy Orbison's legacy lives on in Wink, Texas