Milo Center

Milo Center, on U.S. Highway 385 north of Hereford in east central Deaf Smith County, was originally named Ward, after J. F. Ward, an XIT Ranch cowhand who bought four sections of land eleven miles north of Hereford for fifty dollars a section in 1899. Later he added two more sections. The Wards were instrumental in getting the old La Plata schoolhouse moved to their community. A severe winter in 1903–04 caused the Wards to sell out and move to Dumas, but the community named for them remained. In 1926 a new two-room schoolhouse replaced the original structure, and it was used until the district was consolidated with that of Hereford in 1939. This consolidation ended the Ward community. In 1959, however, Pioneer Fertilizer established a business at the townsite. This business soon became a central meeting place for area farmers. The 1962 construction of an elevator by the Pitman firm further enhanced the location, and at a Labor Day barbecue in 1963 the crowd voted to name the site Milo Center. During the 1980s the elevator bore the name in large black letters, and there was a Milo Center telephone exchange. In 2000 the population was five.