Fort Griffin
The "Handbook of Texas Online" gives this description of Fort Griffin:
" The town of Fort Griffin grew up on the level bottomland between the military fort bearing the same name and the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. The fort stood on a hill, and the townsite was frequently called the Bottom or the Flat. U.S. Highway 283 runs by the site about fifteen miles north of Albany in northern Shackelford County.
The town, begun in the late 1860's, grew and quickly gained the reputation of a lawless frontier outpost that attracted such women as Lottie Deno and Mollie McCabe; lawmen Patrick F. Garrett, Doc Holiday, and Wyatt Earp; outlaws such as John Wesley Hardin..."
By 1874 the lawlessness of the community had become so extreme that the commander of the fort placed the town under government control and forced a number of undesirable resident to leave; this situation lasted until the organization of Shackelford County later in the year.
The community served as a major supply source for buffalo hunters..."
At its height, Fort Griffin had a permanent population of about 1,000 and an estimated transient population of nearly twice that....When the fort closed in 1881 the Texas Central Railroad laid tracks through Albany instead of Fort Griffin, the end came rapidly...the site is preserved as Fort Griffin State Historical Park."
For pictures and updates click on the Fort Griffin State Historical Site. under links.