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Wickett is at the
intersection of U.S. Highway 80 and Farm Road 1219, on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in
northeastern Ward County. The town was named for Fred H. Wickett, an oil operator who
promoted the townsite after the discovery of oil in 1927. Previously, Wickett was known as
Arroya, a switch on the Texas and Pacific Railway built in 1881. The opening of the
Hendrick oilfield in 1926 established Wickett as a tank and refining center. In 1927 the
first oil pipeline from the Hendrick field to a tank farm and railroad loading rack began
operation, and a post office was established. In 1933 Wickett had a refinery, several
oilfield supply houses, and an estimated population of 200. During the 1930s Wickett
attracted several oil industry processing plants, including a Gulf Oil gasoline plant and
a Cabot Company carbon black plant. By 1940 the estimated population had grown to 350, and
the town had fifteen businesses. The population peaked in 1964 at an estimated 1,000
residents. By 1982 Wickett, incorporated since 1965, had a population of 689. The
population was 560 in 1990.
Bibliography: Samuel D. Myers, The Permian Basin:
Petroleum Empire of the Southwest (2 vols., El Paso: Permian, 1973, 1977). Texas
Permian Historical Society, Water, Oil, Sand and Sky: A History of Ward County
(Monahans, Texas, Junior Chamber of Commerce, 1962).
Courtesy: The Handbook of Texas Online
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Fredrick Henry Wickett
Wickett Map
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Current Wickett Photos
Photos taken by Charlene B. Beauchamp
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