Conway

Conway, on Interstate Highway 40 in southern Carson County, traces its beginnings to 1892, when the Lone Star School, said to be the first rural school that endured in the Panhandle, was established for the children of area ranchers and homesteaders. A post office opened in the area in 1903. Perhaps inspired by the previous arrival of the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway, J. D. Delzell and P. H. Fisher platted a town, which they named in honor of former county commissioner H. B. Conway in 1905. The one-room schoolhouse was subsequently moved there. Edward S. Carr opened a mercantile store in 1907 and assumed the duties of postmaster. A railroad depot, a grocery store, and a blacksmith shop were soon added, and a steam-operated threshing machine served area wheat farmers. An interdenominational community church was erected in 1912. During the 1920s the town formed a community club and began an annual community fair. In 1943 the Conway school district was merged with that of Panhandle. The old brick school building was subsequently used as a community center. From a low of twenty-five persons in 1925, the town reached an estimated population of 125 in 1939. In 1969 it had 175 residents, but by 1970 it reported a population of fifty, two grain elevators, four service stations, three cafes, and a general store. The post office was discontinued by 1976, and some of these businesses have since closed. The population was still listed as fifty in 1990. In 2000, however, it had dropped to twenty.