Arthur A. Willis Jr. born Jan 17, 1930 in
Blizzard of1930
arturo_bj@hotmail.com, Parents Rachel and Arthur Adrian
WillisDr. Registered birth first in "walk in book' in Stinnet,
Hutchinson Co,
Belle plains, later a line was drawn thru entry and notaiton, see
moore Co., Trip to
Dumas and check of walk in book said I was born in
Stinnett. Tx. So
moore Co says I was born in county seat of
Hutchinson Co. I have that birth certificate.
Belle
Plains was I think located where a natural gas pumping station is located and the remains of settlement are fenced in and deserted. My dad was stripping oil wells there and we came to
California about a year later. If this helps great. History of BP follows
Belle Plain was east of
Dumas in eastern
Moore County. The site was settled in 1927, when certain of the lawless element, who had been driven out of
Borger by the
Texas Rangers, fled
Hutchinson County and set up shop just across the county line. The development consisted mostly of crude, hastily built shacks and quickly became a booming, bawdy settlement that specialized in bootleg beer and whiskey, gambling dens, and brothels.
Almost as quickly as it had grown, the town shrank, as its temporary residents moved away to escape the law again. By 1929 only the school, a store, and a filling station remained. The post office was closed and mail routed to
Stinnett in 1930. Many buildings were either torn down or allowed to fall apart, while others were moved to
Altman (now Sunray). By the time prohibition was repealed in 1933