Deuce of Hearts

New Home is at the intersection of Farm roads 211 and 1730, six miles west of U.S. Highway 87 in north central Lynn County. The tiny agricultural community was originally a part of the Deuce of Hearts Ranch, which was opened for settlement in the 1890s, and the settlement evolved very slowly during the first part of the twentieth century. At first the community was known as Deuce of Hearts (or Minor), but when a church was built, a new name seemed in order. L. G. DePriest suggested New Home because all the homes were new to their occupants, even though some were dugouts. Farming began in the area between 1905 and 1910, and an identifiable community had coalesced there by the 1930s. New Home registered a population of 10 in 1930, then grew to 200 by 1940, 252 by 1970, and 274 by 1980. Incorporation of the town in 1963 facilitated more accurate population figures. In the 1980s the community had several businesses, and in 1985 the New Home Co-op Gin processed 12,000 bales of cotton; at that time the economy of New Home was closely linked to cotton production and ginning. While the population had dropped to 175 in 1990, in 2000 the town was growing again, with 320 inhabitants and twenty-two businesses.