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Big Wells street scene
Photo c1914 courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
History in
a Pecan Shell
The name doesn’t seem to have been an exaggeration when the town was
founded. It was named for the artesian wells that once (allegedly)
jetted 30 feet into the air. Naturally with this abundance of water
– it was a prime location for land developers. There were several
projects in Dimmit County between 1909 and 1917 – like the one nearby
in Valley
Wells.
The town began as a modest 480-acre parcel of an ambitious, project
that eventually reached 56,000-acres.
Promotion began in 1908 and settlers began arriving in 1910. It immediately
grew due to its location on the San Antonio, Uvalde and Gulf railroad.
By 1911 the town had a post office and in 1912 they had two schools.
The population had grown to 800 by 1915.
From 1916 to 1918, the area suffered through drought, low crop prices,
and at least one devastating hailstorm.
People went back where they came from, the newspaper closed it’s doors
in 1919 and the population dipped down to 300 in 1925 – while the
rest of the country was prospering.
Ironically by 1929, however, the population started growing – just
as the Great Depression was beginning. Throughout the 30s the population
was in the 700s and at the end of WWII
there were 866 people living in Big Wells.
The artesian wells that gave the town its name have required pumps
to produce water since World
War II.
Oil has replaced agriculture as the area’s major economic influence.
In the mid fifties the town had just over one thousand people, but
its school closed in 1955.
The population has declined at a very slow rate since then to its
current figure of 756 (1990). |
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