Best is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

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 so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

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

Location and population

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

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 (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...

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 The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

''. Best was served by the

Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, started in 1900 by American railroad entrepreneur Arthur Edward Stilwell, was the predecessor of the Chihuahua al Pacífico railroad in Mexico. It was intended to reach the Pacific Ocean at Topolob ...

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 National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

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 prese ...

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 Texas state government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of the state's immense Texas state highway system, state highway system and the support of the state's maritime trans ...

References

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