Crane

Crane, on U.S. Highway 385 and State Highway 329 in eastern Crane County, was named for Baylor University president William C. Crane. It is the seat and only town of the county and has the county's only post office, which was founded in 1908. The discovery of oil in the county in 1926 led to the county's organization the next year and to Crane's development as an oil boomtown. O. C. Kinnison opened a realty office and platted a townsite, naming the streets for his daughters and sons. Early residents had to put up with board sidewalks, unpaved roads, and limited services-including hauling their own water-until permanent housing and city utilities were built. Schools and other amenities were established at Crane as the local oil resources were exploited. Crane's population was reported as 1,420 in 1940, as 2,156 in 1950, as 3,796 in 1960, as 3,427 in 1970, and as 3,622 in 1980, when the town had a library, a swimming pool, and some 104 businesses. These included a steel foundry, a concrete plant, a nursing home, and a hospital (that was enlarged in 1962). A special edition of the Crane News in 1972 celebrated the county's production of one billion barrels of oil. In the 1980s the town was the service center for the region's flourishing oil industry. In 1990 the population of Crane was reported as 3,533. In 2000 the community contained 156 businesses and 3,191 inhabitants.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.