Royalty, Texas, 79779

Some places are out there for a time, serve a purpose, and then fade away. Royalty is still out there, the Handbook of Texas online says. But barely.

“ROYALTY, TEXAS. Royalty is at the intersection of Farm Road 1219 and State Highway 18, two miles north of Grandfalls in southern Ward County. It was named for royalties paid to landowners after the discovery of oil at Grandfalls in 1927. Royalty was established to serve the neighboring oilfield and its workers. Before a post office was opened in 1929, it was known as Allentown, after an early landowner. In 1933 Royalty had an estimated population of twenty, and a hotel, drugstore, cafe, pool hall, barbershop, and laundry. Its population peaked at 750 in 1940, when it reported thirty-five businesses. By 1950 Royalty had an estimated 280 residents and five businesses. With declining oilfield activity, the population had fallen to about 190 by 1968. In 1990 the population was reported as 196. The population dropped to twenty-nine in 2000.”

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlr49https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlr49

(1933 – You have a place to stay, a place to get aspirin, a place to eat, some entertainment at the pool hall, a place to get your hair cut and a place to get your clothes washed. Sounds OK. Surely, though, there was a church. We’re talking about Texas here.)

Satellite view: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Royalty,+TX+79756/@31.3723611,-102.8670981,2636m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x86faf4eef47b5ccd:0xb711787175445006

If you are in Royalty and want to eat out, you’ll have to go to Monahans.

Royalty is in Ward County, as mentioned above. In 1890, the county population was 75. That means everybody knew everybody else. Or should have.

Also in Ward County is what remains of Pyote Air Force Base. As an Army airfield in World War II, Pyote at one time had more than 6,500 Army and civilian personnel. After the war, the base was used for storage. The Enola Gay and the Swoose were there for a time, as was an XB-42 Mixmaster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyote_Air_Force_Base

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/