Fasken 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), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

in east central

Andrews County Andrews County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in West Texas and its county seat is Andrews. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,610. The Andrews Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Andrews County. Andrews c ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States. It rose and declined within the first half of the 20th century.

History

Founded in 1917 by the Midland Farms Company, it was originally part of a speculation enterprise.

David Fasken David Milne Fasken (December 31, 1860 – December 2, 1929) was a Canadian lawyer from Wellington County, Canada West, whose wealth, later inherited by his family, formed Fasken Oil & Ranch in 1979, an oil company which currently owns approxima ...

, a lawyer and businessman from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada had purchased the "C" Ranch in the hope of dividing this large cattle ranch into farm properties. To make the farms more attractive he had the Midland and Northwestern Railway built out to the properties and the town founded on the rail line. It was hoped that a large number of settlers would move there. Soon Fasken had a depot, a store, hotel, barbershop, school and a zoo. Many of the town's lots did sell but few of the purchasers ever took up residence in Fasken. Heavy rains destroyed much of the railroad track in 1923 and the rail line had to be abandoned. Fasken declined rapidly and became a

by the early 1930s.Davis, Charles G
Fasken, Texas
Handbook of Texas Online, University of Texas at Austin.

References

* (David Fasken) Geography of Andrews County, Texas Ghost towns in West Texas {{AndrewsCountyTX-geo-stub