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November / December 2009
Volume 21, Number 6

History of a Texas County

Reagan County Home of Big Lake Oil Boom

Reagan County is in West Texas at the northwestern edge of the Edwards Plateau — the southernmost unit of the Great Plains — on U.S. Highway 67 and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It is bounded on the west by Upton County, on the north by Glasscock
County, on the east by Sterling,
Tom Green and Irion counties, and on the south by Crockett County. In the 1980s less than 1 percent of the land was considered
prime farmland. Duststorms were once common during the spring, and the land suffered from overgrazing, water and wind erosion, and poor irrigation systems.

An important source of water for prehistoric peoples and early travelers was Grierson Springs, which once flowed substantially in southwestern Reagan County. In 1858 the Butterfield Overland Mail missed the springs when planners drew its stage route along Centralia Draw across the center of the county, but a source of fresh water was the first consideration when an outpost for Fort Concho was selected on April 30, 1878. Both the springs and the camp were named in honor of Col. Benjamin H. Grierson, who located the camp at the site. Grierson explored
and mapped the Trans-Pecos, constructed wagon roads and telegraph lines, and opened West Texas to settlement and the railroads. Camp Grierson was part of the army’s plan to protect white society in the area from Indian attack and ultimately to eliminate the Indians from Texas.

Reagan County was carved from Tom Green County in 1903 and named for Senator John H. Reagan, the first chairman of the Railroad Commission. Stiles became the first county seat. After constructing two temporary frame courthouses, county officials built a striking two-story white stone building in 1911. A wooden school building was constructed adjacent to the courthouse. At one time the Stiles school employed a faculty of six certified teachers for an estimated enrollment of 75 students. The original school was replaced by a brick building in 1926, but enrollment dropped to eight in 1930, and the Stiles school closed in 1947.

In 1905 the P. H. Coates family settled in southern Reagan County on the west side of Big Lake. The T. H. Taylor family took up residence on land on the east side of the pond. In 1911 Taylor sold 320 acres of land to the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient of Texas Railway for a station and townsite, which was named for the local landmark and promoted by the railroad. The railroad chose a route through Big Lake rather than Stiles, because a large landowner near Stiles failed to grant a right-of-way. A post office, public school, newspaper office, and various stores were established by 1912. In 1913 a Methodist church was formed, and in 1915 a Baptist church was organized with fifteen members. A red brick 10-grade school opened, and the Big Lake Hotel was completed in 1915.

In May 1923 the focus of the area economy changed from agriculture to petroleum when the Big Lake oilfield started producing. The discovery opened the Permian Basin and all of West Texas to oil exploration and production. Oil wells located on lands given to the University of Texas in 1876 subsequently became a major source of the institution’s endowment. By summer oil leases sold for quick profits to local landowners and out-of-town speculators. Several cafes, a hardware store, a lumberyard, and other new businesses opened to serve the expected Big Lake boom, and the local hotel was expanded by a 12-room addition. Big Lake citizens voted to incorporate on August 15, 1923. In 1930 the Reagan County population reflected the oil boom rather than the Great Depression.

As a result of the oil boom, two new post offices were established in southern Reagan County. The community of Best, six miles from the discovery well, received a post office in 1924 and operated a grade school under an emergency permit. Best developed into a typical 1920s boom town with growing vice and violence, reaching
a population estimated at 3,000 by 1925. In an effort to clean up the town, citizens called out the Texas Rangers, who destroyed buildings that were being used as brothels, gambling houses, and saloons. By the 1980s less than a dozen people lived at Best.

In contrast to Best, Texon was established by the Big Lake Oil Company for its employees and their families and was devoted to family life. It was granted a post office in 1926 and became a model town with stores, a union church, good housing, a school system, and a hospital. Entertainment facilities included a movie theater, swimming pool, playground, baseball park, and golf course. At that time the town was home to 738 residents, and the public school had enrolled fifty students. As oil activity decreased, however, Texon declined. The Texon school closed in 1958, and the company town in 1962. By 1990 only a single business and a population of 35 remained.

The information above is excerpted from the Handbook of Texas, an encyclopedia
published by the Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook can be accessed online. Copies of the two-volume set may be obtained by contacting the TSHA at (512) 232-1513.