Pecos ( ) is the largest 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 Reeves 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. It is in the valley on the west bank of 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 ...

at the eastern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, in the

Trans-Pecos The Trans-Pecos, as originally defined in 1887 by the Texas geologist Robert T. Hill, is the distinct portion of Texas that lies west of the Pecos River. The term is considered synonymous with Far West Texas, a subdivision of West Texas. The Tran ...

region 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 just south of

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 ...

's border. Its population was 12,916 at the 2020 census. On January 24, 2012, Pecos City appeared on the ''Forbes'' 400 as the second-fastest growing small town in the United States. The city is a regional commercial center for ranching, oil and gas production, and agriculture. The city is most recognized for its association with the local cultivation of

cantaloupe The cantaloupe ( ) is a type of true melon (''Cucumis melo'') with sweet, aromatic, and usually orange flesh. Originally, ''cantaloupe'' refers to the true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe with non- to slightly netted and often ribbed rind. ...

s. Pecos claims to be the site of the world's first

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

on July 4, 1883.

History

Pecos is one of the numerous towns in West Texas organized around a

train depot A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a Rail transport, railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passenger train, passengers, freight rail transport, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one railwa ...

during the construction of the

Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. However its lines never went we ...

. These towns were subsequently linked by the construction of U.S. Highway 80 and

Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Reeves County, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. B ...

. Prior to the arrival of the railroad, a permanent camp existed nearby where

cattle drives Droving is the practice of walking livestock over long distances. It is a type of herding, often associated with cattle, in which case it is a cattle drive (particularly in the US). Droving stock to market—usually on foot and often with the ...

crossed the

. With the introduction of

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

from underground

aquifers An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

, the city became a center of commerce for extensive local

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

production of

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

s, and

cantaloupes The cantaloupe ( ) is a type of true melon (''Cucumis melo'') with sweet, aromatic, and usually orange flesh. Originally, ''cantaloupe'' refers to the true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe with non- to slightly netted and often ribbed rind. ...

. The introduction of large-scale

sulfur Sulfur ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur ( Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms ...

mining in adjacent Culberson County during the 1960s led to significant economic and population growth. The growth was reversed after mining operations ceased in the 1990s. In 1962, Pecos resident and tycoon Billie Sol Estes was indicted for fraud by a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...

. Estes' extensive machinations caused a national-level scandal, resulting in a shakeup at the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

. Oscar Griffin, Jr., of the'' Pecos Independent and Enterprise'' newspaper won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for breaking the story. Pecos is the site of the largest private prison in the world, the Reeves County Detention Complex, operated by the

GEO Group The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in the United States, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The company ...

. On December 18th 2024, a

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

freight train hit a semi-truck that was hauling an oversized load, with all locomotives and some freight cars derailing. Both crew members were killed and three people on the ground were injured. The former Texas & Pacific train depot, occupied by the town's Chamber of Commerce, was damaged during the derailment.

Geography

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.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, 12,916 people, 2,729 households, and 1,857 families resided in the city.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, 9,501 people, 3,168 households, and 2,455 families were residing in the city. The population density was . The 3,681 housing units averaged 504 per mi² (194/km). The racial makeup of the city was 76.322% White, 2.45% African American, 0.46% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 18.07% from other races, and 22% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 79.57% of the population. Of the 3,168 households, 39.9% had children under 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were not families. About 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.97, and the average family size was 3.47. In the city, the age distribution was 32.5% under 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $24,943, and for a family was $26,376. Males had a median income of $25,867 versus $13,874 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 $11,857. About 23% of families and 27% 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 36% of those under 18 and 16% of those 65 or over.

Education

The City of Pecos is served by the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent School District, which currently has four schools: Austin Elementary,(grades Pre K-1), Zavala Elementary, (grades 2-5), Crockett Middle School, (grades 6–8), and Pecos High School (grades 9–12).

Climate

Pecos experiences a

semiarid 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 sem ...

( ''BSk'') to

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(''BWh'') with hot summers and mild winters. The city's aridity results in a substantial

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diur ...

, resulting in cool nights even after hot summer days.

Notable people

* Billie Sol Estes, financier convicted of fraud * Paul Gonzales, boxer, gold medalist at the

1984 Summer Olympic Games The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

* Oscar Griffin, Jr., recipient of 1963 Pulitzer Prize for

Investigative Reporting Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...

Roger Mobley Roger Lance Mobley (born January 16, 1949) is a former child actor in the 1950s and 1960s who made more than 118 television appearances and co-starred in nine feature films in a nine-year career. He served in the Green Berets (46th Special Force ...

, later

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in film, movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associa ...

, resided in Pecos in the 1950s * Abel Talamantez, singer of Menudo and the

Kumbia Kings The Kumbia Kings are a Mexican-American cumbia group from Corpus Christi, Texas, created by A.B. Quintanilla. Their music encompasses the styles of cumbia, hip hop, and R&B. They produce songs in both Spanish and English. The producers for th ...

References

External links

Pecos, Texas – Official Site
*
Pecos Area Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Cities in Reeves County, Texas Cities in Texas County seats in Texas Micropolitan areas of Texas