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MONAHANS,
TEXAS"The
Oasis of the West Texas Desert" Ward
County Seat, West Texas
I-20 and Hwy 18
36 miles W of Odessa
26 miles E of Pecos
51 miles N of Fort
Stockton
About 106 Miles S of Lovington, New Mexico
Population: 6,821 (2000) |
| Welcome
to Monahans
TE photo |
History in a Pecan
Shell
In
gratitude for digging the first water well in the vicinity (1881), the community
was named for Thomas John (Pat) Monahan but was first known as Monahan’s Well.
Things got started with the arrival of the Texas and Pacific Railroad in August
of the same year and two years later a post office was granted.
Although
it had a railroad connection, few people stopped. It wasn’t until 1900 when the
first hotel opened – two years after the first school.
By 1905 the community
finally could report eighty-nine residents and five years later it had increased
to nearly 400. But after that growth slowed until the West
Texas Oil Boom of the mid 1920s.
Monahans incorporated in 1928 and
the demand of supplies for the oil industry added another rail connection in 1929.
The Texas-Mexico Railroad ran a line from Lovington, New Mexico – a distance of
about 100 miles, passing through Hobbs, New Mexico and Kermit,
Texas.
The 1930 population was just over 800 and unlike most of the
country, Monahans experienced a boom through the Great Depression.
By
1938 Monahans replaced Barstow
as the county seat and two years later the town could boast of having nearly 4,000
residents. By 1950 it had increased to 6,300 and peaked in 1960 with 8,567. (See
Monahans in the
1950s) It floated just below that figure for decades, but the 2000 census
reported a drop to 6,821.
See
Monahans
Landmarks, Attractions & Nearby Destinations |
| | "This
is my brother (seated) and me. Murray's Hardware can be seen across the street.
Its probably Main Street in Monahans. The date on the pic is 1954. Obviously a
hot west Texas afternoon." - Rex
Parsons
Monahans
in the 1950s | |
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