McCamey is a city in
Upton County, Texas
Upton County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,308. Its county seat is Rankin. The county was created in 1887 and later organized in 1910. It is named for two br ...
. Its population was 1,887 at the
2010 census. The
Texas legislature
The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...
has declared McCamey "the Wind Energy Capital of Texas" because of the many wind farms that have been built in the area. Its history, however, is primarily that of an
oil boomtown.
Geography
McCamey is located at (31.132300, –102.222106).
The town is about 5 miles (8 km) east of the
Pecos River
The Pecos River ( es, Río Pecos) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico ...
along
U.S. Route 67
U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues so ...
.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the city has a total area of 2.0 square miles (5.2 km), all land.
History
McCamey is named for George B. McCamey, whose 1925 wildcat well brought about the oil boom in the region. He brought in a real estate developer from
Corpus Christi, to lay out a townsite near the oil field and along the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway capable of housing 10,000 people. The town was initially a jumble of tents and frame shacks; order came slowly, replacing the lawlessness of the early boomtown environment. A post office was built in 1926, and the town was incorporated near the end of that year. In 1927, the
McCamey Independent School District was formed, and an enterprising newspaperman printed the first issue of the ''Tri-County Record'', the first town newspaper.
[McCamey, Texas, in the Handbook of Texas Online](_blank)
/ref>
Water supply was a problem in the early years of McCamey, as the nearby water sources were not drinkable. Water came in by train from Alpine, almost away, at a cost of $1 a barrel. A potable water supply was found in a geologic unit only distant, and pipes were built to transport it to town in 1929.
McCamey was the location of a Humble Oil Company Refinery, one of the first built in West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...
. Humble Oil & Refining Company was a corporate predecessor of Exxon Company
ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 3 ...
. An early experiment by Shell Oil Company
Shell USA, Inc. (formerly Shell Oil Company, Inc.) is the United States-based wholly owned subsidiary of Shell plc, a UK-based transnational corporation " oil major" which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 18,0 ...
in massive oil storage in McCamey proved a failure; local oilmen built a reservoir to hold up to one million barrels of oil in an earthen tank, but the limestone formation underneath the tank cracked under the weight of the crude, allowing much of it to leak into the subsurface.
The population of the town declined during the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
along with the price of oil
The price of oil, or the oil price, generally refers to the spot price of a barrel () of benchmark crude oil—a reference price for buyers and sellers of crude oil such as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent Crude, Dubai Crude, OPEC Ref ...
, and as the discovery of large oil fields elsewhere pulled workers away. In 1940, 2,600 people were in McCamey; in 1980, 2,436; and the 2000 census showed the population had shrunk to 1,805.
In 1940, Texas oilman and industrialist Bill Noël moved to McCamey, where he joined M. H. McWhirter of Monahans and J. B. Tubb of Crane County to establish the Trebol Oil Company. He worked 18-hour days as Trebol's tool pusher, pumper, and production supervisor. The company drilled 52 producing wells before it struck the first dry hole. Noël was so occupied in the pursuits of the business that he claimed to have been unaware that he had become a millionaire until several years after the accumulation of his fortune.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there were 1,831 people, 693 households, and 425 families residing in the city.
2000 census
As of the census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, 1,805 people, 676 households, and 494 families resided in the city. The population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 900.4 people per square mile (348.5/km). The 854 housing units averaged 426.0/sq mi (164.9/km). The racial makeup
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
of the city was 72.30% White, 1.55% African American, 1.27% Native American, 23.82% from other races, and 1.05% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 52.30% of the population.
Of the 676 households, 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.1% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.9% were not families. About 24.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the city, the age distribution was 30.3% under the age of 18, 8.0% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,233, and for a family was $28,906. Males had a median income of $31,513 versus $16,724 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $12,171. About 23.2% of families and 24.7% of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 30.6% of those under age 18 and 16.6% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The City of McCamey is served by the McCamey Independent School District.
Notable people
* Gary Gilmore
Gary Mark Gilmore (born Faye Robert Coffman; December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing ...
, first person executed in the United States after capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
was reinstated in 1976, was born in McCamey on December 4, 1940
* Jill Jackson, Ray Hildebrand's partner in the 1960s duo Paul & Paula, was born in McCamey on May 20, 1942. Their 1963 hit song called " Hey Paula" reached number one on the ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Top 40 charts
* Bill Keffer
William Ralph Keffer (born September 15, 1958) is an attorney in Dallas, Texas, who was from 2003 to 2007 a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 107. His older brother, Jim Keffer, is a still-serving Republican H ...
, Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...
from District 107 from 2003 to 2007; Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
lawyer born in McCamey in 1958; brother of still-serving Representative Jim Keffer
* Dan Seals
Danny Wayland Seals (February 8, 1948 – March 25, 2009) was an American musician. The younger brother of Seals and Crofts member Jim Seals, he first gained fame as one half of the soft rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, who charted ...
, country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
singer/musician, is also known as "England Dan", half of the soft rock duo England Dan & John Ford Coley. Born February 8, 1948, in McCamey, he died March 25, 2009, of mantle cell lymphoma
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...
(aged 61) in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, McCamey has a semiarid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
, ''BSk'' on climate maps.Climate Summary for McCamey, Texas
/ref>
References
{{authority control
Cities in Texas
Cities in Upton County, Texas