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WRIGHT CITY,
TEXAS
Smith County, East
Texas
Highway 64 on the Rusk county line
Near Arp
SE of Tyler
Population:
172 (2000)
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A closed
gas station in Wright City
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, July 2007 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Named after a family of settlers, the Handbook of Texas begins Wright
City’s history in 1931 when Smith County’s first oil well came in
on May 30, 1931. The discovery softened the blow of the Great Depression
and by 1940 the population was 450. Thanks to the post-war availability
of cheap automobiles, the townspeople left to find better paying jobs
and by 1950 there were only 220 residents. Today the specter of boom
times is evident in the abandoned oil facilities. |
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