Nolan County Sheriff's Sale 2026

The Nolan County Appraisal District has done an excellent job on posting and listing for the March 3 sheriff's sale. Not only have they made the list available online, there are addresses for each property. The information can be found on the Nolan CAD site.

Here are the properties up for auction:

• 1400 Mason
• 209 Robert Lee
• 108 East New Mexico
• 1306 Pease
• 703 Coke
• 505 Elm
• 303 Tom Green
• 1307 Elm
• Six lots in Maryneal
• 303 Poplar
• 300 East 14th
• 1405 Burch
• 114 West Broadway
• 110 West Broadway
• 310 Main Street in Roscoe
• 707 Pease
• 1010 Woodruff
• 205 Hickory
• 323 West Ave A
• 1211 Vine
• 105 Bell
• 104 Alexander
• 109 East Texas
• 205 West Alabama

The sale will be held at the Nolan County Courthouse in Sweetwater at 2 p.m. 

Things going on

- IREN, Childress Co., Texas -

I didn't get on here in time to announce the special meeting held by Fisher County Commissioners this morning, but it's online at the Double Mountain Chronicle facebook page, if you'd like to watch it. It will also be posted on the Fisher County Courthouse Texas YouTube site.

I drove up to the Childress area to check out the IREN bitcoin mining project going on there. First I drove through a new solar construction zone, mistaking it for the IREN site. There's a lot of building going on in that area, around a community called Kirkland, but Childress County has a lot of space, and these huge projects seem to take up a small portion of it when looking at all that sky.

Between Childress and Guthrie, Guthrie and Aspermont, there is restful landscape to lay the eye on from horizon to horizon. I stopped in Paducah, between Childress and Guthrie, and got a cheeseburger from the Dairy Maid. There's more fries comes with that order than I can eat. Reminds me of the old days (1970's).

There's some activity going on out by the Wetsel Substation, where IREN has bought property for the Fisher County bitcoin mining project. It's just north of where the Claytonville gas plant used to be.

So, while I was looking to the left, something else was happening on my right. In Sweetwater, a data storage facility has been installed on Sam Houston Street. Veribi has a much smaller operation than IREN. I don't even know if it's the same product. If you stop at the 1 1/2 acre site and listen, it sounds like a giant evaporative cooler.

My guess is that there are some lucrative government subsidies for this industry, much like that for the windmills and solar farms. Chances are they'll be popping up everywhere, big and small.

One other thing, the Dollar General in Roby has opened. That is massive progress in this county and brings a department store a few more miles closer to my house.

October public auctions 2024

Perdue Brandon doesn't have any local sheriff sales this month. Mitchell County has some parcels in Colorado City, Loraine and Dunn. One parcel is listed as 6,817 acres, but a double-check with Mitchell County Appraisal District shows it to be 6.817 acres, at Lake Colorado City, on the lakefront.

Nolan County: Foreclosure sales for 707 East Louisiana and 806 East New Mexico in Sweetwater. 

Jones County: Foreclosure sales for 1401 12th, Anson; 336 SW Ave D, Hamlin; 17246 CR 467, Merkel. 

Sales this month will be on October 1.

September 2024 Nolan County public sales

September 3 sheriff sales:

Nolan County has a big bundle of tax foreclosures, with over 50 properties listed on Perdue Brandon. The most notable is the large commercial building at 100 East Broadway, on the corner of Oak. This was the location of the Azteca Bar & Grill in its last incarnation. It was originally built in 1928 and is part of the Sweetwater Commercial Historic District.

To see if taxes have been paid prior to sale, check with the Nolan County Appraisal District. To check for liens, use TexasFile and Nolan County LGS.

Texas Public Notices lists two sheriff sales: leasehold estates and lands in connection with the Saratoga oil and gas well; a parcel of 10 acres out by the cotton coop facility, across from the cemetery.

School start dates 2024

The doors open for the new school year on the following dates:

Rotan Independent School District - August 14.

Roby Consolidated School District - August 15. 

Sweetwater Independent School District - August 14.

Big Country Homepage has an exhaustive list of all school begin dates.

August 2024 public sales

One sale is for July 29, for the contents of two storage rooms at Rotan Self Storage. Details can be found in The Double Mountain Chronicle.

Tax and foreclosure sales scheduled for August 6:

Nolan County: two foreclosures, courthouse, 10 a.m. for 512 Locust St in city, and 1 p.m. for 1611 San Carlos St in city.

Mitchell County: tax sales, courthouse, 10 a.m. Properties in the city, at the lake and one in Loraine.

Scurry County: foreclosure, courthouse, 1 p.m. for 4516 Fredonia in city.

Texas Communities Group resales:

Loraine: Four properties - two end 8/5; one ends 8/6; one has no end date.

Colorado City: one property, ends 8/6.

Stamford: two properties - one ends 8/11, one has no end date.

Auction.com:

1008 Denison in Snyder, ends 8/6.

 

Links:

• Nolan County Clerk
• Perdue Brandon
• Scurry County Foreclosures
• Texas Communities Group
• Auction.com
  

July public sales 2024

All sales are at the county courthouses unless otherwise stated. Please verify information and times on notices. Some sales have a multiple hour span for begin time. An example of that is "the sale will begin between the hours of 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.".

Nolan County: Trustee Sale in Sweetwater for the property at 1403 East 13th Street, July 2, 10 a.m.; Perdue Brandon sheriff sale, July 2, 2 p.m.

Jones County: Trustee Sale in Anson for the property at 7386 FM 1226, Hawley, 1 p.m.; Perdue Brandon sheriff sale, July 2, 10 a.m.

Scurry County: Trustee Sale in Snyder for the property at 3502 44th Street, 1 p.m. and one for 2607 35th Street, also at 1 p.m.

Perdue Brandon has sheriffs sales for 21 counties in July.

Texas Communities Group has several ongoing tax resale properties. 

The closest local ones are for Loraine, but those end tonight. 

Colorado City has one that ends July 16.

There are two properties in Stamford. There is no cut-off date shown on the website.

There's one property in Rule, also with no cut-off date listed.

House up for auction in Sweetwater

802 Crescent in Sweetwater has an ongoing auction, which started yesterday and ends tomorrow, June 12. The current bid is $70,000. 

It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in a desirable neighborhood on the north side of town. Property taxes run about $3,000, which is average for this area.

This is a bank owned, foreclosed residence.

Source: auctions.com, via Zillow.

Public sales for June 2024

The Nolan County Clerk has a substitute trustee sale scheduled for 908 Brookside, Sweetwater, June 4 at the Nolan County courthouse, 1 p.m.

Jones County has one foreclosure listed for 13234 CR 348, Anson, June 4, 1 p.m., at the Jones County courthouse.

Perdue Brandon has a long list of Mitchell County lots in Loraine and Colorado City up for auction on June 4 at 10 a.m. at the Mitchell County courthouse.

Scurry County has two foreclosures up for auction on June 4, being 2205 Tobosa and 2906 Ave Y, both located in Snyder, at 1 p.m., Scurry County courthouse. The Tobosa document has old dates on it, you might call on that one to check the information.

The Abilene Annual Book Sale will be held June 20-23 at the Abilene Convention Center (what we used to call the Civic Center). The sale is open to the public at 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 p.m on Sunday.

Public sales for April 2024

Many properties will be available to bid on at the Perdue Brandon Nolan County Sheriff sale April 2, at the Nolan County courthouse, 2:00 p.m.

Also at that court house on April 2 are two trustee sales, one property is in Sweetwater: Reyes/Gwinn at 10 a.m., and one is in Roscoe: Borders at 2 p.m. 

The Whitley May Farm Sale in Loraine will be on April 6.

Bidding on the Callan Hospital in Rotan ends April 10 at 5 p.m. Contact city hall for more information.

The Rotan Farm Sale is on April 20, 9:30 a.m.

Sale of Sweetwater Brookshire's grocery

According to a September article in the New England Real Estate Journal, the Sweetwater Brookshire's grocery store has changed hands. The deal was brokered by Cleeman Realty Group on the buyer's side, and Jones, Lang, LaSalle on the seller's.

The NEREJ reported that the store sold for over $3 million.

The Nolan County Appraisal District lists the new owners as RVE Interests out of College Station.

Texas artist Rogers brings past to present

- Rogers' Tartan of 6666 -

While wandering through my thoughts this morning, I was day-dreaming about a full-length portrait of Jim Vernon in a duster that I saw many years ago hanging on the wall in his Sweetwater home. I couldn't remember if it was done by Mondel Rogers or the late Billy Martin, both being local artists and acquaintances of Mr. Vernon.

I pulled out my worn copy of Rogers' book, Old Ranches of the Texas Plains, to see if the portrait was in there. While perusing the pages, I came across this painting of the Four Sixes barn, titled Tartan of 6666.

The artist's comments on this painting were as such:

   "Part of the renowned Four Sixes headquarters at Guthrie is this red barn. Built about 1917 for Burk Burnett, it has stabled some of the finest horses in the Southwest. Stalls, hayloft, tack room, granary, and shoeing facilities are included, making it a complete unit.

    "The barn seems like a bit of ranch heraldry. Two brands, the 6666 for cattle and the L for horses, appear to make a coat of arms. The sliding metal doors might be two escutcheons And the batten boards, the vertical strips of corrugated sheet metal, and the crisscrossing of many fences, posts, lines, and corrals seemingly combine to interweave a special tartan for the 6666."

Another, nicer copy of this book, with dustjacket, lay on my mother's coffee table for decades. That copy was lost in various moves, but I pounced on this thrift-shop find and hoarded it away in my book collection. 

This 1976 book has an interest not only for current fans of the show Yellowstone, but for those interested in a way of living from a time gone past.

Bitter Creek files bankruptcy

Bitter Creek Water Supply in Sweetwater filed for bankruptcy in the Texas Northern Bankruptcy Court November 21, 2022. The final filing was today.

Seventy-five creditors are listed on the account, including the Fisher County Appraisal District and Big Country Electric.

This information was found using Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER).

Hazel Woods place

- Alamo Street -

I was doing some research on Sweetwater when I came across a 1932 article about a drowning at Lake Trammell. People familiar with Sweetwater know there is a long history of drownings at that lake.

The article seemed innocent enough, an accidental drowning when a family fishing trip went awry, but subsequent articles told a different story: a man accused and arrested for murdering his wife practically in front of their children. He wanted to cash in on several life insurance policies, and to make a future with a prostitute from Oklahoma.

Court documents from the case mentioned that the prostitute was staying at Hazel Woods place before the accused man put her up at a nice hotel.

I thought "Hazel Woods? Who is Hazel Woods?"

I went searching, searching for Hazel Woods, and, finally, found a 1937 death notice for her. She was otherwise known as Clara Bowman.

I wondered why a woman at that time would have an alias. I guess if you were a lady running a "bawdy house", you might not want to use your real name.

After reading many newspaper, book and court articles, I ascertained that Hazel Woods place was in the vicinity of 605 Alamo Street in Sweetwater. Somewhere between 1901 and 1913, Clara bought the property from Kate Morse, a madam who had arrived in Sweetwater from Stephenville in 1901.

After Hazel Woods aka Clara B Webb Bowman died in 1937, there were newspaper ads offering rooms for rent at the property, known as the Alamo Hotel. 

References: Portal to Texas History, Caselaw Access Project, Casetext, Sins of the Pioneers, Polk City Directory: Original drowning article; Parks arrest; Parks v State, Hazel Woods place mentioned; Bowman v State, Clara admits to a lot, as well as buying the house from Morse; Kate Morse in Stephenville

Palomino Motel lots up for auction in Sweetwater

The lots where the old Palomino Motel used to sit on East Broadway in Sweetwater will be up for auction on October 4. The estimated minimum bid is $27,980.00, according to Perdue Brandon (Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott), tax attorneys for Nolan County.

The .434 acre site is one of 19 parcels in Nolan County that are being sold for back taxes.

The address of the former Palomino is 1500 E Broadway. More information can be found on the Nolan County Appraisal District site. 

The neon sign from the motel now resides at Cook's Garage, a bar and grill in Lubbock.

The Texas Historical Commission estimates the motel was built in 1935.

The motel was razed in 2020 by the city. A photo of the demolition appeared in the October 1, 2020 issue of the Sweetwater Reporter.

The auction will take place on the north side of the Nolan County Courthouse in Sweetwater, scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

Fisher and Nolan county tax sales tomorrow Oct 5

Perdue Brandon has lists of properties that are going on the block for unpaid taxes tomorrow. The Fisher county sale is scheduled for 10 a.m. and the Nolan county sale is set for 2 p.m. The sales will be held on the courthouse steps of the relevant county.

Texas Communities Group has many ongoing auctions, including some for Anson, Hamlin and Sweetwater. Be sure to click on the Live Auction tab for separate listings.

Save the Texas Theatre 325-235-5488

It's tax deductible!

I was idly looking over my usual internet haunts and came across Robert Graham's Save the Texas Theatre photos on myspace. With a few simple captions he managed to captivate and draw me into the history of the old movie house. Give his album a look, and if you wish to donate to the cause, contact the Sweetwater Chamber of Commerce at the number listed above .

I guess the reason Robert's photos are singular to me is that we frequented the theatre during the same era. Through my seventh and eighth grade years there was rarely a weekend I didn't go to the show, and sometimes I went both nights.

This was where my friends and I came of age and all the girls asked each other who they would be "sitting with" come the weekend.

I also saw many movies before and after that period of time. Early memories include "Jaws" and "Ode to Billy Joe". Later, I cried at the end of a Pokemon movie I took my kids to see.

James Hallmark, father of our friend Sherolyn, used to have the theatre, as well as a photography studio (there are photos in almost every home in town with the Hallmark logo in the bottom corner), and she was included in every movie preview. It was just more proof of our privilege, more proof that we belonged, that we should munch popcorn and watch our friend as she walked under the studio portico in her cut-offs up on the screen.

Ah, I could go on and on, as anyone who knows me will tell you. Anyway, I'll get off Memory Lane to tell you that the Sweetwater Middle School SEEK classes raised more than $2,700 to go toward the renovation.

It's hard to understand why, in this booming town, there is no entertainment to partake in, but that's how it is, and it would be nice to be able to go to the movies once again in Sweetwater. I'm hoping that the project is a success.