Texon is a small unincorporated town

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Reagan County

Reagan County, Texas

Reagan County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 3,326. The seat of the county is Big Lake. It is named in honor of John Henninger Reagan , who served as postmaster general of the Confederate States of America and also as a U.S....

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, in the western part of the state. The town is noted for its boom as an oil town and subsequent near abandonment.

Population and location

The population in 1996 was estimated at less than 10. At its peak in 1933, the town had approximately 1,200 inhabitants. The town is located in Reagan County. It is 3 /10 mile (0.5 km) south of U.S. Route 67

U.S. Route 67 in Texas

U.S. Route 67 is a major U.S. highway in the state of Texas. It runs from the US-Mexico Border south of Presidio to Texarkana at the Texas-Arkansas border. US 67 is part of the La Entrada al Pacifico international trade corridor from its southern terminus to US 385 in McCamey.-US-Mexico Border to...

 on RM 1675.
It is 85 miles west of San Angelo, Texas. Texon was served by the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway

Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway

The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, started in 1900 by American railroad entrepreneur Arthur Edward Stilwell, was the predecessor to the Chihuahua al Pacífico railroad in Mexico. It was intended to reach the Pacific Ocean at Topolobampo, Sinaloa...

.

History

The town originates from May 23, 1923, when oil was discovered.
The town was named for the Texon Oil and Land Company, which drilled the first successful oil well in the Permian Basin

Permian Basin

The Permian Basin is a sedimentary basin largely contained in the western part of the U.S. state of Texas and the southeastern part of the state of New Mexico. It reaches from just south of Lubbock, Texas, to just south of Midland and Odessa, extending westward into the southeastern part of the...

. On December 4, 1928, under the supervision of Carl G. Cromwell

Carl G. Cromwell

Carl G. Cromwell was a Texas Oil Driller and Aviation Pioneer.-Background:Carl G. Cromwell was born the oldest of six children to Swedish immigrants John Nels Cromwell and Hannah Anderson, in Saybrook, Pennsylvania. Cromwell took an oilfield job at age sixteen...

, Texon Oil discovered the Santa Rita University 1-B, at that time the world's deepest well at 8,525 feet. Texon Oil and Land Company developed the Santa Rita oil field. Texon’s leases were subsequently purchased by M. L. "Mike" Benedum and Joe Trees

Joe Trees

Joseph Clifton Trees was a college football player at the University of Pittsburgh, the first athlete to receive an athletic subsidization at the school, and, possibly, an early professional football player. He later made millions of dollars in the oil industry and became a trustee and significant...

of Pittsburgh, who formed the Big Lake Oil Company.

Texon was considered a model oil community. A grade school, a church, a hospital, a theater, a swimming pool, a golf course, and tennis courts were built by the Big Lake Oil Company. The Texon Oilers, a semiprofessional baseball team, were started. Privately owned businesses began including a drug store, a cafe, a boarding house, a tailor-shop, dry-goods and grocery stores, barber and beauty shops, a service station, a dairy, an ice house, and a bowling alley.

Ownership passed on to successive oil companies including Plymouth Oil Company (in 1956) and Ohio Oil (now Marathon Oil) in 1962, which chose not to maintain the town that had at that time 100 residents. In 1986, the post office was closed.

Limited redevelopment

There are historical markers in the town. There are new reflective type street signs and new mailboxes. There is also some activity in some of the oil wells.