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TOMBALL, TEXAS
"Oil Town U.S.A."
Harris County, Texas
Gulf Coast
FM 2920 and Hwy 249
30 miles N of Houston
10 miles W of Spring
Population 9,089 (2000)
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The
former depot awaits restoration
Photo by John Troesser, 9-04 |
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History
in a Pecan Shell
Settlement in the area goes back to 1838 when land was granted to
heirs of William Hurd. As a community started developing it was named
Peck after a civil engineer. In 1907 the Trinity and Brazos Valley
Railroad gave Peck not only a depot - but a roundhouse that could
accommodate five locomotives.
In late 1907 the name was changed to Tomball for the man (Thomas Henry
Ball) who had brought the railroad to Peck. The next year a post office
was granted.
The population was 350 in 1914. The town led the normal agricultural
lifestyle of its neighbors until oil was discovered in 1933. Humble
Oil and Refining Company convinced the citizens of Tomball that if
they could be allowed to drill that worthless, nasty oil from Tomball's
city limits - then the citizens would get free gas and water for 99
years. Such a deal.
Tomball became known as "Oil Town U.S.A." and the population trebled
from the 665 people present in 1933. An estimated twenty-five to thirty
oil companies had sunk wells within five miles of downtown Tomball.
Humble, perhaps feeling guilty over hoodwinking the Tomballers, built
housing and recreation facilities for its workers. Robert Ripley included
Tomball in his syndicated Believe It or Not column for being the only
city with free gas and water but no cemetery.
By 1960 Tomball's population was 1,173, and by the mid 1980s it had
broken the 5,000 mark. |
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