Best is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in southwestern Reagan County in the western part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. It was portrayed in the Clyde Ragsdale novel ''The Big Fist''.

Location and population

Best is located in Reagan County about 85 miles (135 km) west of

San Angelo, Texas 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 Plai ...

and 10 miles (16 km) west of the county seat Big Lake. In 2010, the town had a population of 1. It once was one of the four major communities in Reagan County according to the '' Handbook of Texas''. Best was served by the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway.

History

Oil was discovered in 1923 about 5 miles (8 km) to the west at Texon. The town is reportedly named after Tom Best, an English stockholder of the Orient Railroad, which established a railroad switching station in the town in 1924. The town grew rapidly, reaching a population of 3,500 by 1925.BEST, TX , The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)
/ref> The rapid growth of the town was accompanied by a wild reputation, as portrayed in the Clyde Ragsdale novel, ''The Big Fist''. A commonly used slogan was coined that "the town with the Best name in the world and worst reputation." The population of the town declined after 1925 to 300 by 1945. In the late 1950s National Supply Company still operated an

oilfield A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

supply store. The population in 1990 was 25, and by 2010 had declined to just 1.''2013 Official Travel Map'',

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

References

Unincorporated communities in Reagan County, Texas Populated places established in 1924 Unincorporated communities in Texas {{US-ghost-town-stub