Elgin History
At some point around the turn of the century, Elgin was known as the biggest cattle shipping point in the world. By 1902 those days were over. An oil boom brought prosperity, but by 1924 the town had peaked. Today you can still see the second iteration of the sign that reads, “A Town Too Tough To Die,” which stands in front of City Hall at Grand and Caney. Elgin had been a tough town but even by the late 1950s it was down to a liquor store, a filling station, and a cafe. When Margaret’s Cafe closed in the early 1990s it was a sad end to a once prosperous, yet notorious, town. Today it feels a little “ghosty” as you drive down the wide bricked main street past the block of weathered downtown buildings.
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