First Water Well, Ave. D at First Baptist Church, was drilled in 1891 and became focus for early life in Ozona.
Focus for civic life in early Ozona. City founder E. M. Powell provided the water well equipped with 18-foot windmill, a water trough, and a small cypress tank. At first meeting of Crockett County Commissioners Court, July 22, 1891, under a live-oak near the well, the sheriff was instructed to operate the city water works. At the time, tents housed most homes and stores, and water was hauled from city well--often by children using toy wagons. In a few years homes had private wells and windmills. A modern system piped water throughout the city in the early 1900s.
Water System, Water Works Drive, fed by a well dug for E. M. Powell who laid out town and donated water well, storage cistern, windmill and land for public buildings.
This site was selected for the Crockett County seat in 1891 because of a producing water well (200' northwest). Joe Moss, who drilled for water throughout the area, dug the well for E. M. Powell (1847-1925), railroad surveyor, financier, and land developer. Powell laid out the town, donated the water well, windmill, storage cistern, and land for public buildings. Immediately the Commissioners Court designated the well site as County property. Residents hauled water home by hand, on horseback, and by wagon. Later a wagon delivered barrels of water door-to-door. As a result of Ozona's rapid growth by 1900, Judge Charles E. Davidson organized locally-owned "Ozona Improvement Company." The business drilled more wells and laid a pipeline in town. This hilltop, a familiar site of windmills and sprawling storage tanks, was called "Waterworks Hill." In a few years power equipment was added to provide electricity and ice. A municipal water district was formed in the late 1930s under the guidance of Joe North. Ozona's has not suffered from a decrease in its water supply during times of drought. Its water system utilizes the vast underground limestone formations in which moisture is stored.
