Ben Ficklin (Benficklin), Texas is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

and the former

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Tom Green County from 1875 to 1882. It was located 5 miles (8 km) south of Fort Concho on the east bank of the

South Concho River The South Concho River is one of the few rivers in Texas to run south to north for its entire length. Rising from Anson Springs some south of Christoval, Texas, in Tom Green County, it flows north through the town of Christoval, then continues no ...

History

In 1868, Maj. Benjamin F. Ficklin bought from John O. Meusebach on the South Concho near the

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

from which Fort Concho hauled its drinking water. There, Ficklin built headquarters for his San Antonio-El Paso mail line. Francis Corbett Taylor, a close friend of Ficklin's, came from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

to take charge of the Concho mail station. After Ficklin's sudden death in

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, on March 10, 1871, Taylor carried on the prospering

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. In 1873, with William Stephen Kelly and Charles B. Metcalfe, he laid out a town a mile up the river and named it Ben Ficklin in honor of his friend. Kelly, also from Alabama, built the first house. The

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

was established on August 27, 1873, with Henry M. Taylor as postmaster. Taylor and Kelly were among the commissioners appointed to organize Tom Green County in 1874. In January 1875, they led a successful campaign to make Ben Ficklin the county seat, against the stiff challenge of San Angela (now

San Angelo San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Pl ...

). Taylor had the support of stage line employees, Fort Concho officers, area

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men, and the growing numbers of business and professional men, who with their families, had been attracted to the new town. San Angela's

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houses, and prostitutes were popular with

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s, cowboys, and buffalo hunters. Ben Ficklin's first courthouse was donated by Taylor and Sheriff James Spears. An adobe building housed a subscription school, and lots were donated for future church buildings. Three stores and a hotel were soon erected. Around 600 people were living in Ben Ficklin when Taylor died in 1879. A two-story stone courthouse was completed in February 1882.

Ben Ficklin flood

Heavy rains the night of August 23, 1882, swelled Dove Creek, Spring Creek, the Middle Concho River, and the South Concho River, already high because of a wet summer, out of their banks. Their combined waters roared down on Ben Ficklin at midmorning on August 24, and the town was destroyed. On the flat, only the courthouse, the jail, and two houses remained standing. Up the hill, 15 houses and the schoolhouse remained; 65 people were drowned. County offices and the post office were moved to San Angela, which became the county seat in 1883 with the new name San Angelo. Some survivors moved to Sherwood; others found jobs and free homesites in San Angelo. Two families continued to live at Ben Ficklin, a favorite

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and

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spot, into the new century. The Ben Ficklin

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, on a hill overlooking new residences, holds the graves of flood victims and of F. C. Taylor and his wife, reinterred there after the flood dislodged their coffins. The

Texas Historical Commission The Texas Historical Commission is an agency dedicated to historic preservation within the state of Texas. It administers the National Register of Historic Places for sites in Texas. The commission also identifies Recorded Texas Historic L ...

erected a marker at the townsite in 1965.

References

Mrs. S. C. Autry, Tom Green County (San Angelo: Fort Concho Museum, n.d). Gus Clemens, Jr., The Concho Country (San Antonio: Mulberry Avenue, 1980). Mary Bain Spence and Susan Miles, "Major Ben Ficklin," West Texas Historical Association Yearbook 27 (1951). Katherine T. Waring Cited

Ben Ficklin, TX Area Concho River Flood, Aug 188

at gendisasters.com {{coord, 31.4028, -100.4400, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title Populated places in Tom Green County, Texas Ghost towns in West Texas