Nature
Blue Mountain
(4.5 mi N) Winkler County's highest point (3400 ft.), "Blue Mountain" is actually not a mountain, but is instead the southern escarpment of the Llano Estacado. The site has long served as a lookout and landmark on the west Texas plains, as well as a dependable location for fuel, shelter and water.
Military
Colonel C. M. Winkler
Native North Carolina. Start of Civil War, organized and took company 150 men to join Confederate army in Virginia. Unit made part 4th Texas Infantry of famed Hood's Brigade. Rose to command regiment as lt. colonel. Fought with famous unit in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee. Distinguished himself second Manassas, wounded at Gettysburg. Surrendered with General Robert E.
History
Kermit
County Seat of Winkler County. Organized in 1910. Incorporated in 1938. Name for Kermit Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, who had visited a local ranch. One of the top oil and gas producing counties in state. Ranch center. Gateway to New Mexico. (1964)
Industry & Science
Moorhead Cable Tool Rig
Last wooden oil derrick in U.S. to retire from daily use. Drilled Moorhead No. 1 well on Chapman-McAlvane lease, Loving County. Has bull wheels and rig irons of type not made since 1920s. However, in its day it made deep drilling possible. Pump was steam-driven until 1942, when 4-cylinder gasoline engine began to run the "Yo-Yo" wheels and walking beam. Well was put on electric pump, 1966.
History
Old Duval Townsite
First post office in Winkler (then part of Tom Green) County opened near here (1908) on John Howe ranch. Mail came in twice weekly to serve 300 persons. Duval townsite, promoted all over the United States by the Pueblo Investment Co., opened on March 19, 1910, with free lots, a picnic, and cowboy tournament. In April, Kermit became seat of Winkler County; post office moved there in October.
History
Old Wink Cemetery
"Ghost" burial plot with 26 unmarked graves of unidentified, unfortunates, or men traveling under aliases during 1926-29 oil boom violence. All vestiges of graves lost in winds, shifting sands. Plot dedicated to memory of those with names known only to God. "We raised not a stone, but left him alone..." Wolfe (1964)
History
Roy Orbison
(April 23, 1936 - December 6, 1988) Roy Kelton Orbison was one of America's most famed rock and roll musicians. Born in Vernon (Wilbarger Co.), Orbison and family moved often and by 1946 they had settled in Wink. The Orbisons lived at 102 Langley Way (now 105 North Roy Orbison Drive). As a high school student in Wink, Orbison formed his first band. The Wink Westerners (later The Teen Kings).
History
Texas Territorial Compromise of 1850
Four miles east of this site is an official corner post marking agreement of Texas to give up some of the land won in her 1836 war for independence. It also marks New Mexico's southeast corner. When Texas was annexed to the United States, 1846, her territory included 98,300 square miles now in the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming.
Nature
The Sand Hills
Mapped by U. S. Government, 1849, for gold seekers and settlers. Known earlier to Indians and many Spanish explorers. A 100-mile belt of sand in Winkler and 4 other Texas counties and in New Mexico. Width varies from 3 to 20 miles; outer dunes are held by dwarf oaks. Water at 2' depth supports willows, cottonwoods, and a plum thicket. (The plums gave food to early settlers.
History
Willow Springs
Located 6.6 miles east of this site in the Sand Hills, Willow Springs was known to Comanche Indians and to West Texas pioneers as an important source of water. It was frequently used by gold seekers on their way to California after the 1849 gold discovery there. In 1901,'Judge' A. Hayes found the remains of a charred 40-wagon train at Willow Springs.
History
Wink
On land ruled up to 1874 by Comanche Indians, later part of famed "W" cattle ranch. Town "born" in 1926 when Roy Westbrook's Permian Basin oil discovery 1.5 miles to the north brought in 10,000 to 20,000 people, initiated area's conversion to industrialization. Named for Col. C. M. Winkler, famed Texas Confederate soldier. (1964)
History
Winkler County
Formed from Tom Green County. Created February 26, 1887. Organized April 5, 1910. Named in honor of C. M. Winkler, 1821-1882, statesman, soldier and jurist. Kermit, the county seat. A petroleum producing and cattle raising area.
Architecture
Winkler County Courthouse
Built in 1929-30 in response to the need for a larger courthouse after the discovery of oil in the county in 1926, this replaced a 1910 structure on the same site. Designed by architect David Castle, the four-story classical revival/beaux arts building features distinctive two-story classical columns, decorative double-door surrounds and transoms, and paired and triple windows on the second and…
History
Winkler County Discovery Well
First of 612 Wells in Hendrick Field, a very prolific, 10,000 acre west Texas oil pool. This area, called "Wildcatters' graveyard", lay on the 30,000 acre T. G. Hendrick ranch. Drillers Roy A. Westbrook & Associate leased land at 10 cents an acre. Well arrived dramatically, in great blasts of oil and rock, about midnight, Sept. 3, 1926. Its eventual depth was 3,049 feet.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
