Cottonwood

Cottonwood, on State Highway 137 ten miles north of Stanton in central Martin County, was named for the cottonwood trees set out by Jim Shriver, the town blacksmith. Its inhabitants considered themselves part of the Lenorah community, a few miles west. Cottonwood centered around Shriver's blacksmith shop, which was later bought by M. L. Koonce and converted into a community store. The community was principally known as the site of dances and boxing matches held on a concrete slab near the store. After reaching its peak in the 1930s, Cottonwood declined and ceased to exist by the 1950s.