Texon, Texas

What's left of Texon is located about 1/2 mile south of US 67 on Farm Road 1675 about 13.5 miles west of Big Lake. It was an oil company town owned by the Big Lake Oil Company, and it was erected beginning in 1923 when oil was discovered at the Santa Rita No. 1 well on University of Texas lands in Reagan County. All houses, stores, schools, etc. were erected by the company, and there were as many as 1,000 residents at one time. By the late 1950s, the town was fading, and it was closed by the company in 1962. Most of the structures were either moved or razed. Baker provides a photo of a street corner showing a street sign and sidewalks but with no buildings present. I was unable to find this site or even tour the town because the entirety of the town site is on private, oil company-owned land with no-trespassing signs posted. I saw no one around when I was there, but I didn't want to risk getting stopped and questioned. I would have loved to have seen the old signs and sidewalks, but I didn't get the chance. I did get to see the old Santa Rita well, which is fenced off and has a historical marker.

Above is the Santa Rita No. 1 well as photographed by Baker in 1982. At right is a photo of the corner of Chaparral and Texas Streets complete with sidewalks but no buildings.

On January 27, 2009, I received the following email from someone with a connection to the town:

The picture you have in your web site the corner of Chaparral and Texas is the site where my granddad's house used to stand. He was bought out by the Big Lake Oil Co. to be a pumper. Later, he became the town's plumber. He retired and moved to Mertzon, Texas in 1966.

Above, the corner of Chaparral and San Jacinto in Texon, Texas. It's apparently the other end of the street shown in the 1982 photo at right above this one, where the corner of Chaparral and Texas Streets is shown. The building shown is perhaps the Texon scout hut. Below is what's left of the Texon post office. Both of these photos were taken in November 2005 by Brian Garner.

A photo taken by me on October 31, 1999 of the Santa Rita No. 1 well. It's fenced off, but there is a historical marker (visible in the foreground).

Sign attached to the well derrick commemorating the discovery of oil on May 27, 1923.

All that's left to greet visitors to what was once Texon. The sign and the Santa Rita well are on the north side of the Santa Fe railway tracks that pass through the area. The townsite itself is on the south side of the tracks, but to get to it would mean ignoring some nasty-looking no-trespassing signs indicating that the land is privately owned by an oil company, that it's still producing, and that dangerous fumes may be about. I didn't venture across!

On 2/8/04 I received the following information by a resident of the area who saw this website:

"...the nasty signs have been taken down. There was one resident still living there but they made him move in the last few months. Other than that there are still three structures standing, one being the original Texon Scout hut. It has fallen into disrepair, but the Big Lake historical society would like to see it moved into Big Lake and continue to be used by the Scouts. If you would like to get some more pictures of this town come quickly, they are starting to do some more drilling, and they are destroying the town pretty quickly."

On 5/15/08 I received the following email from someone with a connection to the town:

"Hi, I really enjoyed the pics of the old town of Texon. I was born and raised in Texon. My dad worked for the oil company there all his life. My mother retired as the postmaster of Texon. The picture of the old house with the porch on it that was referred to as the old scout hut was actually the post office. My parents owned the house and leased the front half to the postal service where my mother was the postmaster. We lived in a house across from the post office to the south. The old scout house was southwest of this house about 200 to 300 yards. It resembled a log cabin as the oil company constructed it out of telephone poles that resembled logs. It was a single room with a large fireplace. We had a lot of interesting scout meetings in that place. Texon was a great place for a kid to grow up. Everyone knew everybody. I always said it was like having 40 brothers and sisters to play with but you didn't have to live with."

On 4/21/09 I received the following email from another person with a connection to Texon:

"I really enjoyed your website. It Brought back lots of old good memories. My Dad helped bring in Santa Rita No. 1 in Texon, TX. He was good friends with Snipe and Mary Connelly who lived there for quite some time. I even went out one summer in the mid fifties and worked there during summer break. I now live in the old ghost town of Waldrip, Texas, north of Lohn, Texas and down the road from Doole. I can see Salt Gap from my bedroom window. The old bridge over the Waldrip crossing (Western Trail and Colorado River) is closed and I guess will never be re-opened. If you ever get by Waldrip drop in for a drink or something. Thanks for the memory."

On 11/17/09 I received the following email from another person with a connection to Texon:

"Found your site while looking for information on Texon. My mother and father met there in about 1939 plus or minus a year. My father taught school and drove a school bus. My mother was nurse to Dr. Birdsong at the clinic (hospital?). My older sister (now deceased) was born there. We went to a Texon reunion many years ago and heard some hair raising stories there. My mother told me many times that serious injuries were almost a daily occurrence at Texon."