Howard County (TX) Land & Surveyor Broadsheet Charter / Archive Ref: TX Corporate Charter (1960-1988 Big Spring / Howard County Subdivider) Primary Recorder Entry: Howard County Deed Records Vol. 289, Page 129; Vol. 454, Page 75 (1976-1984 Severances) & OPR Vol. 1666, Page 759 (2017 Carve-Out)
Highland Acres, Inc. Est. 1960-1988 · TX Ref TX Corporate Charter (1960-1988 Big Spring / Howard County Subdivider) · Howard County Land Archive

Caprock Escarpment & Midland Basin Historical Archive · Howard County (TX)

How Highland Acres, Inc. Surveyed and Platted the Lands of Howard County.

Organized by Big Spring / Howard County Subdivision & Land Group (1960-1988), Highland Acres, Inc. assembled and subdivided tracts across Howard County (TX), recorded in the county clerk's books at Howard County Deed Records Vol. 289, Page 129; Vol. 454, Page 75 (1976-1984 Severances) & OPR Vol. 1666, Page 759 (2017 Carve-Out). This broadsheet preserves the historical surveys, recorded plats, and deed index of the company.

Original Era
1960-1988
County Seat & Archive
Howard County (TX)
Primary Recorder Entry
Howard County Deed Records Vol. 289, Page 129; Vol. 454, Page 75 (1976-1984 Severances) & OPR Vol. 1666, Page 759 (2017 Carve-Out)
Archival Facsimiles Inspect Recorded Plats & Deeds → View scanned Howard County Clerk and GLO instruments. County Recorder Index Search the Deed & Tract Table → Filter recorded instruments, survey calls, and reservation clauses.
Howard County Clerk & Archival Facsimiles

Recorded Deeds, Survey Files & Historical Press for Highland Acres, Inc.

Inspect authentic county clerk instrument scans, General Land Office files, and archival newspaper facsimiles harvested for Highland Acres, Inc. in Howard County (TX).

Howard County Deed Records · Vol. 347, Page 183 (Doc #1965-122-327562)

Highland Acres, Inc. Warranty Deed & Amended Plat of Highland South Addition Reference

Recorded January 8, 1965 in Vol. 347, Page 183, Howard County Deed Records, executed by Highland Acres, Inc. in Big Spring, Howard County, Texas.

Texas Historical Newspaper Archive · ARK metapth1932880

The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 131, Ed. 2 Wednesday, October 25, 1967

Archival Texas newspaper edition (The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 131, Ed. 2 Wednesday, October 25, 1967) preserved in the Texas Digital Newspaper Archive (ARK Identifier: ark:/67531/metapth1932880), documenting regional land, townsite, and county history for the Howard County corridor.

Chronicle of Howard County

Land, Water, Surveys & the Story of Highland Acres, Inc.

Where the southern edge of the Llano Estacado Caprock breaks into the rolling draws of Howard County, a natural spring in Sulphur Draw made Big Spring a vital watering hole for Comanche trails, Captain Randolph B. Marcy's 1849 expedition, and the Texas & Pacific Railway in 1881. When the Dora Roberts and Chalk oil fields roared to life in 1926-1928, boomtowns like Forsan sprang up overnight across the Texas & Pacific Railroad alternating survey sections, followed after World War II by suburban additions expanding south of Big Spring toward the old air force base and hospital hills.

  1. 1960-1988 TX Charter · TX Corporate Charter (1960-1988 Big Spring / Howard County Subdivider)

    I. Founding & Land Assembly by Highland Acres, Inc.

    Organized by Big Spring / Howard County Subdivision & Land Group (1960-1988), Highland Acres, Inc. assembled parent acreage, survey tracts, and rights-of-way across Howard County (TX), recorded in the county clerk's books at Howard County Deed Records Vol. 289, Page 129; Vol. 454, Page 75 (1976-1984 Severances) & OPR Vol. 1666, Page 759 (2017 Carve-Out).

    Primary lands surveyed and indexed to the company include Highland South Addition (68.887 Acres across 6 Parent Tracts in NW/4 of Section 8, Block 32, T-1-S, T&P RR Survey, A-1280), Howard County, Texas, laid out for regional townsite, agricultural, lakeside, or oil and gas development.

  2. Subdivision & Conveyance Era Howard County Deed Records · Howard County Deed Records Vol. 289, Page 129; Vol. 454, Page 75 (1976-1984 Severances) & OPR Vol. 1666, Page 759 (2017 Carve-Out)

    II. Out-Conveyances, Plats & Recorded Deed Reservations

    As Highland Acres, Inc. platted and conveyed individual lots, farm tracts, and rights-of-way out of its parent holdings in Howard County, deeds recorded in the county clerk's office included written reservations and exceptions: 100% oil, gas, and mineral reservations across 1976-1984 residential deeds (DR Vol. 454/75, 454/78, 466/151, 472/330, 480/570, 504/111, 504/234, 506/93, 556/153).

    Under TX property law, severed mineral estates, royalty interests, road strips, and easements created by written deed reservation remain in the chain of title long after the original land company finishes selling its surface lots.

  3. Present Day Howard County Archival & Surveyor Cross-Reference

    III. Modern Map, Title & Mineral Record Legacy

    Today, when historians, landowners, surveyors, title examiners, or oil and gas landmen review tracts within Highland South Addition (68.887 Acres across 6 Parent Tracts in NW/4 of Section 8, Block 32, T-1-S, T&P RR Survey, A-1280), Howard County, Texas, the historical deeds and plats of Highland Acres, Inc. serve as key reference points in the Howard County records.

    This broadsheet indexes the recorded instruments of Highland Acres, Inc. so researchers and land professionals can inspect Volume and Page citations, examine the recorded plats and deeds, and contact the archive desk.

County Recorder Cross-Reference

Historical Subdivision, Survey & Deed Index

Search and filter the verified Howard County recorder entries, survey abstracts, and tract citations below for Highland Acres, Inc..

Historical cross-reference of Highland Acres, Inc. deeds, survey abstracts, and recorder citations in Howard County
Subdivision / Instrument Unit Recorder Citation Parties & Tract Call Historical Survey & Reservation Notes Series
Highland South Addition 68.887-Acre Parent Vesting Deeds Into Highland Acres, Inc. Howard County Deed Records Vol. 289/129, 291/75, 298/405, 320/431, 341/189 & 433/998 (1960-1973) Parent Tract Grantors -> Highland Acres, Inc. (68.887 Ac. in Sec. 8 & Sec. 9, Blk 32, T-1-N / T-1-S, T&P RR Survey) Six recorded parent conveyances vesting 68.887 acres in Block 32, T&P RR Co. Survey, Howard County, into Highland Acres, Inc. Vesting Into Company
Highland South Addition Out-Conveyance & 100% Mineral Reservation Series Howard County Deed Records Vol. 347, Page 183; Vol. 454, Page 75; Vol. 504, Page 111 (1965-1984) Highland Acres, Inc. -> Highland South Addition Grantees (Block 32, Howard County) Recorded warranty deeds conveying subdivided parcels out of Highland Acres, Inc. while reserving all oil, gas, and other minerals and unplatted roadway/drainage strips to the corporation. Mineral Reservation
Field Notes & Historical Curiosities

Why the Howard County Land Records Look the Way They Do Today

Every old subdivision map and deed book in Howard County is a record of early surveying, local development, and state property law.

West Texas Boomtowns · T&P Railway Block 32

Checkerboard Railroad Sections & the 1926 Howard-Glasscock Gusher

Across Howard County, nearly every land description begins with Texas & Pacific Railway Co. Survey, Block 31 or Block 32. To finance the transcontinental tracks through Big Spring in the 1870s, Texas granted the railroad odd-numbered square-mile sections while reserving the even-numbered sections (like Section 8, Block 32, T-1-S) for the Public School Fund. When wildcatters struck oil in the late 1920s, townsite promoters and ranching families platted streets, pipeline alleys, and residential blocks directly atop one of the richest hydrocarbon basins in North America.

“In the Midland Basin, townlots, school sections, and ranch additions were surveyed over stacked Wolfcamp and Spraberry pay zones that would not be horizontally drilled until a century later.”

Primary Surveys & Tracts Indexed:

  • Highland South Addition (68.887 Acres across 6 Parent Tracts in NW/4 of Section 8, Block 32, T-1-S, T&P RR Survey, A-1280), Howard County, Texas
  • Willie Scott A North Unit & Willie Scott B North Unit (OPR Vol. 2367, Pages 104 & 109, Recorded July 31, 2026)
Survey & Title History · Big Spring & Forsan

Why 1929 Pipeline Alleys & 1970s Lot Reservations Endure

During the 1929 Forsan boom, townsite deeds specifically kept underground street and alley rights so gathering lines could be laid between wooden derricks without digging up private yards. Decades later, during Big Spring's 1970s expansion in Highland South Addition, corporate grantors shifted from fee-simple lot deeds to mineral-reserved deeds - leaving a checkerboard of severed corporate lots and reserved boundary strips inside modern horizontal drilling units.

“When modern operators unitize a 640-acre section in Howard County, a century of townsite plats and subdivision deeds must be pieced together lot by lot.”

Recorded Reservation & Deed Clauses Documented:

  • 100% oil, gas, and mineral reservations across 1976-1984 residential deeds (DR Vol. 454/75, 454/78, 466/151, 472/330, 480/570, 504/111, 504/234, 506/93, 556/153)
  • Reserved fee boundary strips (DR Vol. 422/271, 426/384, 427/173, 492/591, 546/532) and 68.887-acre Save-and-Except in OPR Vol. 1666, Page 759
Land & Records Archive Desk

Corporate Archive & Land Records Inquiry

Submit the Instrument Book and Page, Survey, or Parcel Number for Chain-of-Title and Corporate Records Verification.

This broadsheet is maintained as an Independent Historical Surveyor Atlas, Plat Archive & Chain-of-Title Research Index preserving the surveying, agricultural, mineral, and corporate history of Highland Acres, Inc. (TX Ref: TX Corporate Charter (1960-1988 Big Spring / Howard County Subdivider)) in Howard County.

Whether you are a local historian, a landowner researching the history of your tract or subdivision, a surveyor examining historical map books, or a landman, division order analyst, or title examiner with a question regarding historical corporate records, leases, or deeds, use the form here to reach the archive desk.

Archival Reference Citation:
Entity: Highland Acres, Inc. (Est. 1960-1988 · TX Ref TX Corporate Charter (1960-1988 Big Spring / Howard County Subdivider))
Primary County Record: Howard County Deed Records Vol. 289, Page 129; Vol. 454, Page 75 (1976-1984 Severances) & OPR Vol. 1666, Page 759 (2017 Carve-Out) (Howard County, TX)

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Terms of Service & Archival Research Notice

1. Independent Historical Surveyor Atlas & Research Index

This website is published as an independent historical surveyor atlas, plat archive, and chain-of-title research index documenting public county land records associated with Highland Acres, Inc. in Howard County (TX).

2. No Legal Advice or Title Insurance

All historical deed citations, volume and page references, and plat abstracts are provided strictly for archival land, surveying, and title research reference and do not constitute a title insurance policy or legal opinion.
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