Phillips 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 ...

Hutchinson County, Texas Hutchinson County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,617. Its county seat is Stinnett. The county was created in 1876, but not organized until 1901. It is named for Andrew Hutchinson, an early ...

, United States. It was founded as Pantex, Texas. In 1938, Pantex and Whittenburg combined and renamed as Phillips for the dominant employer, the

Phillips Petroleum Phillips Petroleum Company was an American oil company incorporated in 1917 that expanded into petroleum refining, marketing and transportation, natural gas gathering and the chemicals sectors. It was Phillips Petroleum that first found oil in th ...

Company, by a vote of the people. American

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Mary Castle lived in Phillips as a girl and attended junior high school there.

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

and former president of

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Southern Associat ...

Max Sherman was reared in Phillips and graduated from Phillips High School.

Past demographics

Phillips appeared as an unincorporated community in the 1950 U.S. Census and was listed as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the

1980 U.S. Census The 1980 United States census, conducted by the United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4% over the 203,184,772 persons Enumeration, enumerated dur ...

. Maximum population: 4,250 in 1947

Education

It is served by the Plemons-Stinnett-Phillips Consolidated Independent School District. It was a part of the Phillips Independent School District until July 1, 1987, when it merged into the PSP CISD. On March 19, 1950, a fire destroyed the high school. Local churches housed classes until the new school was built.

Decreasing population

In the 1950s and 1960s, improved highways and transportation resulted in many businesses and people moving to Borger. By 1980, the population had dropped to about 2,500.

1980 explosion

A hydrocarbon explosion at the refinery in 1980 obliterated part of the industrial area and some nearby homes. Damages were estimated to be in the millions of dollars. After a long battle between the citizens of Phillips, M&M Cattle Company, and later Phillips 66, the town was permanently closed to residency, at the request of Phillips 66 Oil Company. The homes themselves were owned, but the land they sat upon was property of two local ranchers who leased the land originally to the company and later to the home owners. After the explosion, the company purchased the land from the ranches and forced the homeowners to move. In 1987, three schools and communities, Plemons, Stinnett and Phillips, created the Plemons-Stinnett-Phillips Consolidated independent School District. Three mascots, the Plemons Indians, Stinnett Rattlers and the Phillips Blackhawks were changed to create the Comanches. The campuses of the district, West Texas Elementary School, West Texas Middle School, and West Texas High School are all united as Comanches. Therefore, many homes were moved to areas nearby (Borger, Stinnett, and Fritch). The homes that were not moved were leveled. Today, the high school is one of the few buildings left and is used for business by the Phillips 66 Refinery.

References

External links

TexasEscapes Entry for Phillips, Texas

Handbook of Texas Online

Phillips High School Alumni Association

History of Phillips 66 Refinery in Phillips, Texas
{{authority control Geography of Hutchinson County, Texas ConocoPhillips Company towns in Texas Populated places established in 1938 Populated places disestablished in 1980 Ghost towns in the Texas Panhandle 1938 establishments in Texas 1980 disestablishments in Texas Phillips 66