Parks Camp

Product photo
Promotion: Nearby Map of Stephens County

Parks was two miles south of the site of the present-day Stephens County Airport near U.S. Highway 183 in central Stephens County. The community developed as a result of two successful oil wells drilled in the area by the Texas Company (Later Texaco) in 1917. Subsequent drilling discovered large quantities of natural gas. As oil production increased the community grew rapidly and became a station on the Cisco and Northeastern Railway. A post office was established in 1920 with William R. Dillon as postmaster. Despite a decline in oil-related activities in the early 1920s, the town grew by the 1930s to include two businesses, the post office, and a reported population of 700. Changing economic conditions by the 1940s greatly curtailed the community's growth. The post office was discontinued in the early 1940s, and the population fell from a reported 250 in 1940 to eighty by 1945. By the mid-1960s only twenty residents were reported. The former oil town was not shown on 1980 county maps.

Continue Reading

Charles G. Davis | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

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

Belongs to

Parks Camp is part of or belongs to the following places:

Currently Exists

No

Place type

Parks Camp is classified as a Town

Associated Names

  • [Parks]

Location

Latitude: 32.68615000
Longitude: -98.89033900

Has Post Office

No

Is Incorporated

No