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History
in a Pecan Shell
The town began on a ranch belonging to Sam Lazarus.
The Wichita Valley Railroad had extended a spur to the ranch headquarters (just
north of the present-day site). Lazarus built a church and the railroad built
a loading facility. It went by the name Lazarus Switch unil 1908 when the
ranch was bought and a store and hotel built.
The new owner, Charles Mangold
platted a townsite just south of the former ranch headquarters which was also
home the ranch foreman (and storekeeper) Tom Mankins. Mangold was evidently a
modest type, for he allowed the town he was building be named for Mr. Mankins.
The
1914 population has been given as 55 residents. Mankins had an nearby oil discovery
in the 1920s, but nothing remotely approaching the oil booms of other towns. There
was no population explosion and the 85 residents that lived there in the late
20s remained in place through the Great Depression. The town spent some of its
oil revenue on a large two story brick building that served as high school, church
and community center until it was destroyed in a 1938 tornado.
The 1950
census reported 120 residents and by the early 1960s, the town had lost its post
office. The population had dropped to a mere 50 at the close of the 1960s. The
Mangold estate still owned much of the original plat – preventing growth.
Mankins was once the wintering grounds for The D. S. Dudly Show, a multi-generational
circus / carnival, into the 1970s.
The 1990 population of 45 has declined
to an estimated 25 Mankanites by the year 2000. Mankins is included in More
Ghost Towns of Texas. |
Wild
West Circus D.S. Dudley Show Historical Mark
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2009 |
D.S. Dudley Show Headquarters?
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2009 |
Is
this the end of Kiddie Land?
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2009 |
Experiment
in weathering No. 36942
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2009 | |
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