Benonine

Benonine is on Interstate Highway 40 near the Oklahoma state line, a mile west of Texola in southeastern Wheeler County. G. W. Burrow built the first homestead near the site in 1900. The town was platted by C. B. Harbert in 1909, when the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway built through the area, and named after the local Benonine Oil and Gas Company. The Benonine post office existed by October 1909. For a short time Benonine had a printing office, a bank, and high hopes of prospering as a shipping point. Burrow, who later served as a deputy sheriff, opened a general store in 1909. However, growth faltered, mainly because of the emergence of Shamrock as the county's leading business center. By 1918 the post office had been discontinued and mail rerouted through Texola, and by 1920 the bank and other businesses had been moved away, leaving only the railroad switch and loading pens. The nearby Brooks Ranch became noted, however, for its experimental buffalo herd.