Wastella 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 northwestern
Nolan County, Texas
Nolan County is a county located in the west-central region of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,738. Its county seat is Sweetwater. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1881. It is named for P ...
, United States. It is located at the intersection of
U.S. Highway 84 and
Farm to Market Road 1982, approximately northwest of
Roscoe. It lies within the physiographic region known as the Rolling Plains, to the southeast of the high plains of the
Llano Estacado
The Llano Estacado (), sometimes translated into English as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North A ...
.
History
Wastella was platted eight miles northwest of Roscoe on land provided by Will Neeley when the
Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway
The Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway was an American shortline railroad based in the small West Texas town of Roscoe.
History
The Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway Company was incorporated August 31, 1906, to construct a railroad from Rosco ...
was constructed in 1908.
Neely named the town site for his eldest daughter, Wastella.
Wastella grew slowly and was never very large, but at one time it had a few stores, a hotel, a school, and a post office that opened in 1907. Despite its key location along the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway, Wastella suffered from its close proximity to more significant towns such as
Snyder, Roscoe, and
Hermleigh. The post office closed in the early 1930s. In 1980 and 1990, the population was 13, and the population dropped to only four in 2000.
[
]
See also
*Clear Fork Brazos River
The Clear Fork Brazos River is the longest tributary of the Brazos River of Texas. It originates as a dry channel or draw in Scurry County about northeast of Hermleigh and runs for about through portions of Scurry, Fisher, Jones, Shacke ...
* Brazos Wind Ranch
*Roscoe Wind Farm
The Roscoe Wind Farm near Roscoe, Texas is one of the world's largest-capacity wind farms. With 627 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 781.5 MW, owned and operated by RWE. At the time of its completion in 2009, it was the largest w ...
References
External links
Public domain photos of the Llano Estacado
{{authority control
Ghost towns in Texas
Unincorporated communities in Nolan County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas