Kent is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in Culberson 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. 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 ...

, the community had a population of 60 in 2000.

History

Due to the abundance of

antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

, the area was named Antelope when it was first established before 1892. In Kent, a post office was founded in 1892, but it was never operational. The next year, a second post office was established, and John Charles Rickli was appointed postmaster. In Kent, there were two cattle enterprises in 1896. There were four cattle breeders, a general store, and an estimated 25 people living in the town by 1914. Beginning in 1924 and lasting for 40 years, the estimated population was 50. In 1960, the post office closed. Kent had four companies and a population of 65 in the late 1960s. The town's estimated population dropped to 60 by the middle of the 1970s, and it stayed there until 2000 when there were six businesses. The X Ranch in Kent was associated with a controversy within the racehorse industry. Sugar Bars, an

American Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of or less; some have been clocked at speeds up to ...

, had a sire named Three Bars. Frontera Sugar, his dam, had some controversy attached to her breeding. Her breeder later registered Frontera Sugar's dam as Palomino DO, but the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) has never gotten this correction into their records. Palomino DO was registered in 1947 with the number 8353. Her breeding was given as by a son of Ben Hur, and out of a Reynolds Brothers mare. This is not the Reynolds that bred Frontera Sugar, but rather the Reynolds Brothers that owned the X Ranch. In 1959, the Ross R-6 flew solo from Kent to Farley,

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, for Harland Ross' diamond distance and won the Barringer Trophy. This flight completed his Diamond badge, which was No. 14 in the US.

Geography

Kent is located at the crossroads of Interstate 10, Interstate 20, Texas State Highway 118, and Farm to Market Road 2424 on the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad o ...

, east of Van Horn, east of El Paso, and west of Fort Stockton in southeastern Culberson County.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Kent 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 se ...

, abbreviated ''BSk'' on climate maps.Climate Summary for Kent, Texas
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Education

Kent's school closed in 1961. Today, the community is served by the Culberson County-Allamoore Independent School District.

References

External links