Our Story
R. “Bob” Powell arrived in Moore County, Texas, in 1900. Moore County had been organized by the State of Texas in 1892 and Powell became one of the fledgling county’s first residents. He was elected county clerk in 1902 and he soon became familiar with the keeping of deed records and the importance of land titles. Powell also quickly realized that the new county was going to need an abstract company to index and verify what he knew would become hundreds of new deeds and land claims. In 1908, he founded Bob Powell, Inc., the company that would one day become Powell Abstract Company, Inc.
Powell built a one room, white, wood framed office on Dumas town square, directly across the street from the courthouse and next door to Phillips & Son General Store and Mercantile. Though the small wooden office with a quaint front porch is long since gone, Powell Abstract is still located in that very same spot. For well over a half century, the company was operated by three generations of Powell family members, and although they no longer own or operate the company, it still proudly bears the Powell family name.
In 1974, Powell Abstract acquired the sovereignty title plant of Sherman County Abstract, which was founded by Royal Pendleton, and owned and operated by the Pendleton family of Stratford, Texas, for more than 50 years. With the acquisition of Sherman County Abstract’s records, Powell Abstract became the only title company with records dating back to sovereignty for both Moore and Sherman Counties, Texas.
Powell Abstract Company, Inc., is the oldest continually operating business in Moore County, and although the faces have changed a bit over the years, it has operated in the same location on Dumas’ town square since 1908.
