New York and Texas Land Company

The New York and Texas Land Company, one of the largest, privately owned land companies to operate in Texas after the Civil War, was formed in 1879 from the lands of the International-Great Northern Railroad Company and consisted of over 3 million acres. During the company’s existence it owned over 5.5 million acres. The company’s purpose was to locate, survey, map, and sell these properties. Ira Hobart Evans, the former general manger of the Texas Land Company, was appointed president of the company. The company sold 637,440 acres of Texas land to Charles G. Francklyn in 1882, the largest sale of land in the company’s history. Francklyn eventually formed the Francklyn Land and Cattle Company and the land became known as the White Deer Lands. Offices for the New York and Texas Land Company were initially in Palestine, Texas, and New York, but due to an increase in business, the Texas office was moved to Austin.

In 1886, Timothy Dwight Hobart, Evans’ cousin, was placed in charge of a million acres of land in the Texas Panhandle. Hobart leased the land to cattle interests and used the first year’s rent to make improvements, such as fences, wells, dams, and windmills. He believed that the improved land would then sell at a higher price. The improvement program proved successful and all the land was sold by the turn of the century. Hobart resigned in 1903 to become the general manager of the White Deer Lands in 1903.

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