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SUNRAY,
TEXASMoore
County, Texas Panhandle
FM 119 and FM 281
14 miles NE of Dumas
10 miles E of Cactus
64 miles N of Amarillo
via I-27
Population: 1,950 (2000) 1,729 (1990)
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| History
in a Pecan Shell
By Texas standards, Sunray arrived late; materializing
with the oil boom of 1929.
Named after the Sunray Oil Company in 1931,
the town had previously been known as Altman.
The town had a post
office in 1930 and incorporated in 1937.
School students were bussed
to Dumas after their numbers overwhelmed the local
school. The population has remained between 1,500 and 2,000 from the 1950s until
the present. |
| | The
inscription on the Texas Fireman's Memorial on the Capitol Grounds in Austin
TE
photo 10-04 |
The Fireman's
Monument on the Capitol Grounds in Austin
is inscribed with Sunray's name from a fire in the 1950s - although we have no
other information. Perhaps a reader will send in details. Please contact
us.
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©
John Troesser |
Sunray
Texas Forum Subject:
Refinery Fire
I will never forget July 29, 1956. I was five years old. The fire siren in Sunray
blew and we could see the smoke from the refinery north of Dumas.
My mother was very scared because my Dad was a volunteer fireman in Sunray. When
the phone rang later my mother started crying... Dad had been badly burned when
one of the tanks exploded. Later, Dad said he could tell the tank was about to
go and he and the men with him began to run. There was a small berm nearby and
Dad was able to get to it. The flames went over Dad and burned the back of his
head and severely burned his arms... but he survived as did other men from the
Sunray volunteer fire department. Sadly, others from the small community fire
department did not. Even though I was very young at the time, I remember some
of the men who died that day and how the whole town of Sunray mourned. Yes, they
are heros.... from a time and place where heroism really meant something. - Randy
Foshee, Canon City, Colorado, September 01, 2006
Subject:
Fire at Diamond Shamrock July 29, 1956 - 50 Year Memorial
There were 19 men killed by fire and explosion with 33 people injured. Four men
who were fatally injured were employees of the refinery, and thus not included
as members of either Dumas or Sunray Volunteer Fire Departments.
At least
one man (D.C. Lilley) had his name misspelled [on the monument]. His correctly
spelled name is D.C. Lilley. As his son I have quite a lot of info on this incident.
There are monuments in Sunray and Dumas and a 50 year memorial is planned for
2006 in Dumas.
The NYC firefighters were all headed upward on 9-11-01.
They are among heroes anywhere. Out of over 5 million people, 343 firefighters
died that day. On July 29, 1956, nine men ( 8 firefighters and 1 refinery employee)
died among a town with a population of 1,240.
I consider them all heroes
as well as the men who found them and carried them to medical services. (We don't
know who most of them were.) They have my eternal thanks. The burial of most of
these men was at Lane Memorial Cemetery located one mile N. of Sunray and
approx 1/4 mile east on a (now paved) FM road.
Four of these men were
members of the First Baptist Church of Sunray.They were Broxson, Emmett, D.C.
Lilley, and Weir. Funerals were held on July 30 and 31, 1956 with mourners lining
both sides of the road from the church to Lane Memorial Cemetery.
I lived
northwest across from the church and watched these funerals. My father's being
the last. All funerals were closed casket from this refinery fire and explosion.
My biggest regrets are my family not meeting my father.
Thanks
for the article and time you've spent setting up this website. May God Bless.
- Larry Lilley, Retired Fire Dist. Chief of the Lubbock Fire Department, Active
duty: 27 years, 2 months, Lubbock, Texas,
March 19, 2006
Subject:
Firefighters of Sunray and Dumas
In the late 1950's (1957 I believe) the Shamrock Oil refinery just south of Sunray
exploded and burned. While fighting the fire, the ENTIRE voluteer fire departments
of Sunray and Dumas were killed in the fire and subsequent
explosions. The fire burned for days and many area firefighters valliantly fought
the inferno. The firefighters from Amarillo Airforce Base arrived with their foam
trucks and turned the tide. My cousin Donald Thompson was a young volunteer fireman
from Dumas and he died at the nozzle that day. - Doug Thompson, Garland, Texas
- February 18, 2004
Anyone wishing to share information, stories or photos
of Sunray, Texas, please contact
us.
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