Penwell, Texas, Ector County ghost town landmarks, photos, vintage map. (original) (raw)
Penwell Closed Gas Station
Photo courtesy Dustin Martin, January 2018
History in a Pecan Shell
Ector County's first oil boom occurred at "Derrick City" � near the former town of Judkins.
When the R. R. Penn Kloh-Rumsey No. 1, came in � the drilling operator was Penn, thus it was Penn�s well or Penwell. He is said to be the town�s namesake, however the historical marker on Hwy 80 states that the land was owned by one Robert Penn � another possible source for the town�s name.
The discovery was in the first half of October, 1929, the town was laid out the next month and a post office was granted in June the next year.
Penwell experienced the same predictable explosion of population as other oil towns and naturally, the same growing pains. Shacks and tents outnumbered proper dwellings.
According to the Handbook of Texas - Penwell had filling stations, stores, hotels, a drugstore, barbershop, dance hall, and the typical boom town rooming houses.
When drilling declined the population dwindled accordingly. Odessa and Midland � as well as new oil towns siphoned off population and Penwell was down to a ghost of it�s former self.
Historical Marker: (West City Limits, Hwy. 80)
Penwell
Birthplace of Ector County's Oil boom. First civic development here was wide-open town, "Derrick City", platted March 1927, after Dec. 28, 1926, oil discovery by driller Josh Cosden on land of W. E. Connell, near the old farming and cattle station, Judkins. However, when Connell well began pumping only 20 barrels a day, the boom crowd moved away. The city was abandoned.
As nearby counties off the railroad struck oil that had to be shipped by the Texas & Pacific to refineries, Ector County in 1927 had a "Truck Drivers Boom" --a foretaste of the leadership in supply and servicing that was to develop progressively. Then on Oct. 14, 1929, on Robert Penn's land here, a 375-barrel per day well came in. With that showing, exploration continued, soon followed by the Penn Well, the 600 to 700-barrel a day gusher. In a busy, bustling and prosperous tent city, the Penwell Post Office was established June 30, 1930. This has remained a central distributing and shipping point for numerous fields in several permian basin counties, thereby establishing and earned reputation as "The Crossroads of the oil patch".
1965
"The shell of The Joker Coffee Shop"
June 2010 Photo courtesy Bronson Dorsey - http://lost-texas.com
Joker Coffe Shop in 2018
Photo courtesy Dustin Martin, January 2018
Closed oil change garage
Photo courtesy Dustin Martin, January 2018
Defunct Rhodes Welding Company
Photo courtesy Dustin Martin, January 2018
Rhodes Welding Company ghost sign & Highway signs
Photo courtesy Dustin Martin, January 2018
Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact us.