Dominion

Dominion, on Wolf Creek in Lipscomb County near the Oklahoma state line, was one of two townsites that rivaled Lipscomb for the position of county seat. It was founded by two land agents, C. P. Walker and John Holzapfel, employees of the Interstate Town Company in Colony, Kansas. It was platted in February 1887 and named for the fact that its site was in the heart of the Dominion Cattle Company's holdings (see BOX T RANCH). The town's planners, anticipating the arrival of the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway, reportedly sold $15,000 worth of land, in twenty-four sections. S. T. Gilbert erected a two-story hotel there. However, the railroad bypassed the site, Lipscomb was chosen county seat, and the Dominion townsite was abandoned within a matter of months. Gilbert's hotel was moved to Lipscomb under new ownership. Laura V. Hamner commented that Dominion's advertising circulars "claimed 5,000 inhabitants. This claim could be substantiated since they had fully 5,000 prairie dogs as residents."