The town of Arcadia was established on the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad in 1890. This church was organized in 1894 and represents the oldest surviving church in the community. Initial services were held by the Rev. T. Patterson in a building shared with the local Methodist Church. The building was destroyed by a tornado about 1909, prompting Arcadia Christian to build its first sanctuary on a town lot in 1910. Except for a brief period during World War II, the church experienced steady growth, and in 1955 the congregation built a new brick church building. A steam locomotive bell donated by the Santa Fe Railway Company in 1961 was placed in the sanctuary belfry.

The congregation continued to grow and in 1983 a new sanctuary was erected at this site. Included in the new facility was an office complex and a library. The former brick sanctuary was later converted for use as classrooms and a small chapel.

The church is notable for the number of its young members that have entered fields of Christian service. The congregation supports several ministries and bible colleges and is active in local and foreign outreach programs. Arcadia Christian Church continues to provide spiritual guidance for the community.

Construction of a railroad across the Panhandle led to the founding of Amarillo as County Seat of Potter County, Aug. 30, 1887.

For the ensuing ten years, Amarillo had a monopoly on trade from the South plains, and was the nation's largest rural cattle shipping point, 1892-97. But in 1898 its trade was threatened and the city's very existence jeopardized when it appeared that the (Santa Fe sponsored) Pecos Valley & North Eastern Railway, to be built to Roswell, N.M.(220 mi.SW), might make junction with the Santa Fe at Washburn (15 mi.SE), cutting off ready access to the South plains.

The Santa Fe, however, responded to requests from the citizens to make Amarillo the terminus of the new line. The Santa Fe acquired the Pecos Valley & North Eastern in 1899 and moved headquarters from Panhandle (30 mi.NE) to Amarillo. In 1908 the Santa Fe extended its main line here from Panhandle and built a link from Texico, N.M., to Belen, N.M., making Amarillo a major point on the transcontinental line.

These measures, together with construction of branch lines, contributed vitally to making Amarillo the commercial center of the High Plains.

The 1920s oil boom brought increased business to this railroad town, and a new depot was built here in 1928. The structure exhibits elements of the Prairie School, Mission, and Tudor styles of architecture. Prominent features include bracketed overhangs, stepped parapets, and cast stone window surrounds. One of the last brick depots built on the company's western lines, it was last used for passenger service in 1971. It became City Hall in 1985.

Settlement of this area began in the 1850s with the establishment of Camp Colorado, a United States cavalry outpost. At the outbreak of the Civil War the camp was occupied by Texas State Troops and Texas Ranger units. The existence of the camp spurred permanent settlement in the area, and many families moved here from the southern United States after the Civil War. The settlers established farms and ranches, and the Atoka community included a general store operated by D.A. Parker and S.N. Edenborough, a combination church/school building, and a cotton gin built by D.A. Parker. This cemetery was established in 1880 on land deeded by C.E. Bush. Among the early pioneers buried here are the Rev. Hugh Martin Childress, Sr., a former Texas Ranger and Republic of Texas soldier; his son, Elisha Childress, who served as the first Coleman County Sheriff; veterans of the Civil War; and several workers killed in an explosion that occurred during the construction of a Santa Fe Railroad bridge across Jim Ned Creek in 1910. The cemetery, which is maintained by an association of descendants of those buried here, is one of the few physical reminders of the Atoka community and its pioneer settlers.

The town of Bangs was established on the route of the Santa Fe Railroad, which deeded land to the city for a school. The first school building, a two-room frame structure on the south side of the railroad tracks, was completed in 1892. Miss Clemie King was the first teacher; enrollment totaled 35 pupils. A new 2-story stone structure, built on the north side of the tracks in 1903, replaced the first building. Over the years the school system has grown and built additional facilities. Nine other area schools have consolidated with the Bangs school system since its founding.

Virginia-born B.M. Temple served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861-1865), then moved west to begin a noted career in civil engineering. As chief engineer for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, 1879-1884), he supervised much of the line's expansion in Texas, always demanding quality construction. Temple, Texas, founded by the railroad in 1881 and later a division point, was named for him. Temple married ida May Shipman (1861-1936). They had two children.

Bethel Primitive Baptist Church originated in the Palo Alto Community, which was located about 3.5 miles northeast of present Killeen. Organized about 1864, the congregation met in a Union Church building shared with other denominations.

When the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad was built through Bell County in 1882, the town of Killeen grew up along the rail line. The Palo Alto Post Office was discontinued, and the community declined after most of the residents moved to Killeen. By 1889 Bethel Primitive Baptists Church had relocated to this site.

Exhibiting design elements characteristic of the late 19th century, this structure is believed to be the oldest church building in Killeen. Its features include a steep gable roof, double-door entry with Gothic-inspired window details, and simple windows with protruding lintels.

A part of Bell County history for well over a century, Bethel Primitive Baptist Church continues to serve a small congregation. It stands as a reminder of early settlement and rural vernacular architecture.

James Jefferson Bland (d.1939) had this one-story galleried home built about 1912. It was the center of the Bland Lake community, which included Bland's general store, sawmill, cotton gin, grist mill, a school, Santa Fe Railroad, post office, and popular lakeside swimming facilities. Built of pine lumber from the mill, it features a widow's walk on the roof. Bland and his wife Mattie (Baggett) later sold the house to their daughter Lula and her husband Guy B. Fisher.

Founded by freeman Irby Booth (1866 - 1931) about 1890, shortly after he bought the surrounding property. In the early 1890s, Booth went to South Carolina and brought back 30 families to settle his land. Early crops of cotton, corn, and rice were shipped to market via the Brazos River. The post office opened March 21, 1894. By the early 1900s, the town of Booth had a syrup mill, sawmill, and was serviced by the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, by which sugar cane, alfalfa, and truck vegetables were shipped. Booth Public school opened in 1908 and operated until 1947.

Built in 1914 immediately east of the Brownwood Santa Fe Railroad Depot, this was one of a series of restaurants operated along the Santa Fe line by the Fred Harvey Company, product of railroad agent Fred Harvey's idea to provide superior food and lodging for travelers. The Harvey House was popular from its opening day. The restaurant and hotel closed in 1937, but reopened to serve military personnel when Camp Bowie was established in World War II. It closed permanently in 1945 as passenger railroad travel declined in the era of prosperity following the war. Typical of railroad structures built in the southwest during this period by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, the structure features elements of the Spanish Mission Revival style with its red tile hipped roof and decorative brackets.