Big Lake is a small rural city in and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Reagan County,
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 ...
United States. As of the
2010 Census, the city population was 2,936. It is the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of Reagan County.
Description
Big Lake is situated atop the divide between the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...
and
Colorado River
The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
watersheds. The city takes its name from a
dry lake
A dry lake bed, also known as a playa (), is a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceed recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkalin ...
, a unique dryland plains geographic feature located approximately two miles south of the city, through which
St Hwy 137 passes. The dry lake, with no outlet, is more than two
sections
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** Section sig ...
in size, making it the largest in Texas; it impounds water temporarily after high-runoff rain events, being used for grazing the remainder of the time. Though seasonal and temporal, the "big playa lake", in wet periods, is significant in a semiarid, drought-frequented environment and has been utilized regularly as a food and water resource by man and animal, alike, since prehistoric times.
Started as a small ranching community in the late 1880s, Big Lake owes its original existence to 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 ...
, which passed through the area in 1912, as it was extended from Sherwood, 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 ...
, to Girvin and beyond the
Pecos River
The Pecos River ( ; ) 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, at an elev ...
. The growth from the railroad, coupled with that from the Santa Rita discovery well in 1923, allowed it, in 1925, to take over the position of county seat from
Stiles, a pioneer ranching community established in 1894 on Centrailia Draw, about 20 miles to the north. The main highway through the area,
US 67, was extended through the region in 1934, on the way to its terminus in
Presidio
A presidio (''jail, fortification'') was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire mainly between the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word ''praesidium'' meaning ''pr ...
. The city's current existence is based on agriculture (some farming, but mostly ranching) and oil and gas service and production throughout the area.
History
In 1919, Rupert Ricker began the process of leasing 674
sections
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Arts, entertainment and media
* Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea
* Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents
** Section sig ...
of
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
land, part of their
Permanent University Fund
The Permanent University Fund (PUF) is a sovereign wealth fund created by the State of Texas to fund public higher education within the state. A portion of the returns from the PUF are annually directed towards the Available University Fund (AUF ...
. Unable to fund any test wells, Ricker sold the prospect to Frank Pickrell and
Haymon Krupp, who organized the Texon Oil and Land Company. The company geologist, Hugh H. Tucker, picked the drill site, claiming a structure wide and long. The initial drill site was about west of Big Lake, north of the
Orient Railroad tracks at what became
Texon. They hired
Carl G. Cromwell to spud the first test well in 1921, using
cable tools. On the afternoon of 27 May, oil showed in the bailer. Then, on the morning of 28 May 1923, the Santa Rita No. 1
gushed oil after drilling to a depth of . Initial production was 100
BOPD, which overflowed the earthen tanks, and then onto the ground for over a month before
casing could set. The oil was then shipped by
tank car
A tank car (International Union of Railways (UIC): tank wagon) or tanker is a type of railroad car (UIC: railway car) or rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodity, commodities. History
Timeline
The following major event ...
to a refinery in El Paso.
Michael Late Benedum bought the Texon find, and formed the Big Lake Oil Company, in October 1923. By 1924, Benedum had established the Big Lake oil field as the first major oil field in the
Permian Basin. In 1926, this field had 74 wells producing a total of 32,317 BOPD.
Geography
Big Lake is located at (31.193908, –101.458834).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , all land. Big Lake was served by the Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railway, and continues to be served by its successor
Texas Pacifico Transportation.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the
2020 United States census, there were 2,965 people, 964 households, and 710 families residing in the city.
2000 census
As of the census
of 2000, 2,885 people, 932 households, and 751 families were residing in the city. The population density was . The 1,148 housing units averaged 926.1 per sq mi (357.5/km
2). The
racial makeup of the city was 63.64% White, 3.29% African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 30.33% from other races, and 1.94% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 51.54% of the population.
Of the 932 households, 48.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.4% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.4% were not families. About 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.05, and the average family size was 3.47.
In the city, the age distribution of the population was 34.9% under 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,478, and for a family was $37,104. Males had a median income of $31,056 versus $17,656 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year.
In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $12,829. About 8.8% of families and 11.3% 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 ...
, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 23.2% of those age 65 or over.
Climate
Big Lake experiences a hot
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 se ...
, typical of
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...
and parts of Central Texas. Summers are long and hot, and winters are short and relatively mild. In the summer, low humidity helps temper the heat. Due to Big Lake's aridity and elevation, temperatures
drop quickly after sunset, especially in the summer. Some precipitation falls in summer, mostly as fast-moving thunderstorms. Winters are dry. Winter temperatures occasionally drop below freezing at night, but sustained, bitter cold is uncommon. Snowfall is rare, never exceeds a few inches, and usually melts quickly.
Education

The City of Big Lake is served by the
Reagan County Independent School District.
Big Lake in popular culture
The city of Big Lake was featured in the 2002 movie ''
The Rookie'', although the town portrayed in the movie was actually
Thorndale, Texas, which is east of Austin.
In the movie, the town lacked a proper baseball field, while the high school football stadium was the main focus of athletic attention. ''The Rookie'' made Big Lake interested in hosting a minor league baseball team: the
West Texas Big Fish of the
Texas–Louisiana League in the 2000s. Today, another Big Fish team is a member of the collegiate level
Central Texas Collegiate League.
Big Lake is featured in a semi-biographical 2019 novel, by Russ Brown, titled ''Miss Chisum''.
[Brown, Russ]
Miss Chisum
Amazon and Kindle. The narrative explores the life of cattle baron,
John Chisum, and his fabled relationship with a slave. Big Lake is depicted as a watering hole on Chisum's 19th century westward cattle drives. Revisited in 1970 by his granddaughter, whilst retracing his steps.
See also
*
List of municipalities in Texas
Texas is a U.S. state, state located in the Southern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, 29,145,505 (93.14%) of the 31,290,831 residents of Texas lived in a Municipal corporation, municipality in the 2024 estimate.
...
Notes
References
External links
City of Big Lake official website
{{authority control
Cities in Texas
Cities in Reagan County, Texas
County seats in Texas
Populated places established in the 1880s