Monahans, Texas: The Oasis of the Texas Desert

When you think of west Texas and oil, your mind automatically goes to Midland/Odessa, a little metroplex in the Permian Basin. But about 30 miles west of Odessa is a little town called Monahans. It has about 7,800 people and is the county seat of Ward County. It is also known as the center of the Permian Basin.

In 1880, John Thomas Monahan, an Irishman from New York City and an engineer for the Texas and Pacific Railway was in the area assisting with the expansion of the railroad. In order to proceed, the railroad needed water for the crew as well as the animals being used to build it. They were bringing in water from Big Spring but that wasn't sustainable so, Monahan dug a well in the sand dunes and struck...not oil, but water!

Just outside Monahans is the Monahans Sandhill State Park which is 3840 acres of sand dunes. We didn't go in because it didn't look very inviting. We got out at the visitor center and it was closed but we saw some hearty hikers walking around.

If you drive into the park, and I mean way into the park, you'll find beautiful sand dunes like these. They claim to be the "Largest beach without an ocean". My husband said, "Isn't that a desert?"

Meanwhile, land in Monahans was cheap so settlers began coming in to form a community called Monahan's Well. By 1890, they had a grocery store, a general store and a school.

In 1893, Ward County was formed and a little town called Barstow was named the county seat.

Barstow was established by and named for land promoter, George Barstow. The town was situated on the Pecos River which it used as a water source. Unfortunately, in 1904, an earthen dam in the river burst and destroyed the surrounding farms and ruined the soil. That and a series of droughts that followed caused people to leave. By 1930, there were only 400 or so people left. It was at that time the county seat was moved to Monahans. The courthouse, which had been built in 1893, was demolished in 1939.

Back in Monahans, the name was finalized in 1891 when the post office was established. The "Well" was dropped as was the apostrophe in Monahans. In 1900, James Holman opened the Holman Hotel. He would meet travelers at the train station and take them over to his hotel. The original building was destroyed by fire but it was rebuilt in 1909. That building has been moved to the Million Barrel Museum.

In 1926, oil was discovered. The Roxana Petroleum Company (later owned by Shell Oil) realized they had no way to store the oil. But, they had an idea. In 1928, they decided to build a concrete tank to hold the oil until they could transport it. The tank they designed was huge, about the size of three football fields. The project was completed in three months because construction went on 24 hours per day. When they filled the tank, it did not go well.

First, the concrete was poured in sections so there were seams in between. This allowed the oil to seep through. The wooden cap covered with tar paper that was built to cover the reservoir did not stop the oil from evaporating. And then, there was the biggest issue, the weight of the oil. One gallon of oil is about 80 pounds. The tank was built to hold five million gallons. The reservoir couldn't hold the pressure of the oil. It was filled with one million gallons...once. When the company realized the project was a failure, they pumped the oil out and abandoned the reservoir.

In 1987, the reservoir became the Million Barrel Museum. Unfortunately, we were there on a Monday and it was closed.  It looks like a cool museum. It's open Tues - Sat 10 - 8 and it's free!

The Ward County Courthouse in Monahans was built in 1940 when the county seat was moved here. It's hard to get a good photo because the trees block the building.

I did like this little sign in front of the courthouse...in case you were lost.

This was the main street in Monahans. There were a few cars driving around but I didn't see any people. It doesn't appear that any of the businesses were going concerns. But, it was a Monday at 5pm.

In retrospect, I don't feel like we drove around enough. I think there were other things to see. There are 7,800 people in that town. The main grocery store is called Lowes Market. There was a McDonald's and, what has to be, the last Bennigan's in the world. 

The biggest employers are the Monahans-Wickett-Pyote ISD, Ward County and various oil and gas companies. They have several of the moderate hotel chains like Fairfield Inn, Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

One of these days we'll go back and explore a little more...just not on a Monday.