Wickett, Texas, Zip Code 79788

Population 455 as of the 2000 census.

Wickett is one of those “out there” places in West Texas, right before the really large counties begin. It is Ward County, population 10,658 by the 2010 census. The Pecos River forms the southern boundary of Ward County.

”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 theHendrick 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 and 455 in 2000.”

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlw33

For a town that has made people wealthy, Wickett has its share or more of citizens living below the poverty line.

“About 16.1% of families and 18.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.0% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wickett%2C_Texas

Here is a satellite view: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Wickett&state=TX

Most of those white dots are gas wells.

Real estate sites indicate there are no homes or land for sale in or in the immediate area of Wickett.

Two railroad engines met nose-to-nose in 1908.

http://www.texaspacificrailway.org/wrecks/texas-and-pacific-railway-wrecks-wickett--texas-1908---glenn-justice-image-7.html

Up the road in Monahans is the Million-Barrel Museum. The storage tank there was built to hold 5 million barrels of oil. It didn’t.

http://aoghs.org/energy-education-resources/monahans-oil-museum/