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LEES, TEXASTexas Ghost
Town
Glasscock County, West Texas
FM 33 and FM 461
14.7 miles N of Garden
City
15 miles S of Big
Spring
Population:
Unknown
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History in
a Pecan Shell
The town came into being when a Doctor E. A. Lee, built a sanatorium
here (to take advantage of the dry climate) around 1905. A store and
post office soon opened and by 1906 they had a school serving 25 students
for the 1906-07 school year. Dr. Lee platted a town on a section of
land he had purchased and the post office moved to the new site. The
population of the town was only 25 by 1914 and the post office closed
in 1917. Lees had a newspaper to promote the town and encourage land
sales, but this only lasted two short years. Lees experienced a minor
oil boom in the late 1920s but by the time the Great Depression arrived
it was already fading. The town's hotel burned in the mid 30s and
the school closed in the late 30s. The population in the 1940s was
estimated at 25 - and the town faded from most maps. It does appear
on the detailed TxDoT map of Glasscock County. There is no cemetery
shown around Lees.
Lees,
Texas was suggested for inclusion by Joe Wooten of Minooka, Illinois
whose letter appears below.
© John Troesser |
Lees Texas
Forum
There is another
ghost town you don't have in your list. Known as Lee's Store or
Lees, it is in northern Glasscock County at the intersection of
FM 33 and FM 461. There used to be a little general store and about
twenty houses. Now there is just an oil field service yard and building
and few unoccupied run-down houses. There used to be a sign stating
that Lees had been recognized by Texas Electric for some kind of
community award. When I was a little boy growing up in Glasscock
Co, we used to go through there on our way to Big Spring for shopping,
etc. We could always tell when we came through Lees by the rich
hydrogen sulphide smell from the oil field surrounding the area.
- Joe Wooten, Minooka, IL, March 3, 2006
Anyone wishing to share history or photos of Lees, Texas, please
contact
us.
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