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History in
a Pecan Shell
The town came
into being when a Doctor E. A. Lee, built a sanatorium here (to take
advantage of the dry climate) around 1905. A store and post office
soon opened and by 1906 they had a school serving 25 students for
the 1906-07 school year. Dr. Lee platted a town on a section of land
he had purchased and the post office moved to the new site. The population
of the town was only 25 by 1914 and the post office closed in 1917.
Lees had a newspaper to promote the town and encourage land sales,
but this only lasted two short years. Lees experienced a minor oil
boom in the late 1920s but by the time the Great Depression arrived
it was already fading. The town's hotel burned in the mid 30s and
the school closed in the late 30s.
The population in the 1940s was estimated at 25 - and the town faded
from most maps. It does appear on the detailed TxDoT map of Glasscock
County. There is no cemetery shown around Lees. |
Lees Texas
Forum
There is another
ghost town you don't have in your list. Known as Lee's Store
or Lees, it is in northern Glasscock
County at the intersection of FM 33 and FM 461. There used to
be a little general store and about twenty houses. Now there is
just an oil field service yard and building and few unoccupied run-down
houses. There used to be a sign stating that Lees had been recognized
by Texas Electric for some kind of community award. When I was a
little boy growing up in Glasscock Co, we used to go through there
on our way to Big
Spring for shopping, etc. We could always tell when we came
through Lees by the rich hydrogen sulphide smell from the oil field
surrounding the area. - Joe Wooten, Minooka, IL, March 3, 2006
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