REEVES COUNTY TEXAS:

Reeves County is located on Interstate Highway 20 in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas, with the northern edge of its irregular shape touching New Mexico. On the northeast, it borders the Pecos River, which separates it from Loving and Ward counties. It is bounded on the southeast by Pecos County, on the southwest by Jeff Davis County, and on the west by Culberson County. Pecos, the county seat, is seventy-four miles southwest of Odessa. The center of the county lies at 31°20′ north latitude and 103°40′ west longitude.

Reeves County comprises 2,626 square miles of land, with flat and undulating terrain in its northern portion and mountainous topography in the extreme south. Altitudes, including those in the Davis Mountains, range from 2,538 to 4,210 feet above sea level. The Barrilla Hills rise abruptly, with steep slopes reaching heights of 150 to 200 feet above the surrounding plain. Approximately 85 percent of the county consists of a broad, gently sloping plain capped by outwash material from the mountains.

Surface geology is predominantly Quaternary, except in the extreme southeastern corner, which is igneous, and along the western and eastern edges, which are Cretaceous. Soils range from light reddish-brown to brown sands, clay loams, clays, and rough stony land. The average annual temperature is 64°F, and the growing season extends for 226 days. Average annual rainfall is approximately ten inches and drains into several intermittent lakes in the west-central part of the county. These shallow playas fill with water after heavy rains but shrink or disappear through evaporation between storms.

Toyah Lake is the largest playa in the county, with walls formed by cliffs ranging from ten to forty feet in height. The entire county is drained by the Pecos River. Its main tributaries include Salt and Toyah creeks, as well as Four Mile, Horsehead, and Salt draws. Two lakes provide water for recreation and irrigation: Red Bluff Reservoir on the Pecos River in extreme northwestern Reeves County and Balmorhea Lake in the southwest.

Vegetation consists primarily of sparse grasses, scrub brush, creosote bush, cacti, oak, juniper, and mesquite, the latter providing the area’s only timber. Natural resources include gypsum, limestone, salt, oil, gas, and volcanic ash. Other minerals include brine, sand, gravel, and recovered sulfur. Less than one percent of the land is considered prime farmland.

The first people to inhabit Reeves County lived in rock shelters and caves along the edges of the Barrilla Hills and established permanent camps near Phantom Lake, San Solomon Spring, and Toyah Creek. These prehistoric inhabitants left artifacts and pictographs as evidence of their presence. The Jumanos Indians irrigated crops of corn and peaches using water from San Solomon Spring, where Balmorhea State Recreation Area is now located. In 1583, three Jumanos met the expedition of Antonio de Espejo near Toyah Lake and guided the explorers to La Junta by a more efficient route.

Settlers of Mexican descent farmed the county’s Madera Valley from early times. In 1849, John S. Ford traveled along Toyah Creek and noted the fertile land cultivated by Mescalero Indians growing corn. During the latter half of the nineteenth century, farmers of Mexican descent who irrigated from San Solomon Spring found a profitable market for grains, vegetables, and beef at Fort Davis. The first Anglo farmers arrived in Toyah Valley in 1871, when George B. and Robert E. Lyle began irrigating crops from Toyah Creek. Open-range ranching attracted White settlers to the Davis Mountains beginning in 1875.

By 1881, the Texas and Pacific Railway had built tracks through Reeves County. Section houses were constructed at Pecos and Toyah; Toyah opened a post office that year and later became a shipping point for local ranchers. Pecos was designated the county seat when Reeves County was separated from Pecos County in 1883 and officially organized in 1884. Pecos constructed a three-room schoolhouse in 1883 and opened a post office in 1884. The county was named in honor of Confederate Colonel George R. Reeves.

The first community was named Saragosa and opened a post office in 1884. Its name was changed to Lyles in 1891 and to Toyahvale in 1894. By 1885, as several ranchers grazed cattle on the county’s northern range, Pecos reported 150 residents, while Toyah had sixty. By 1890 the county population had increased to 1,247, including seven African Americans, fifteen Chinese residents, and 351 foreign-born inhabitants.

In that same year, a second railroad, the Pecos River Railway, constructed fifty-four miles of track from Pecos to the New Mexico state line along the river, providing transportation for local agricultural products. In 1894, a post office was established at Brogado, nine miles southeast of Pecos, and Toyah built its first school.

By 1899 Toyahvale had formed a public school district with three schools. During the 1899–1900 school term, the Pecos school enrolled 111 students and employed three teachers. A second school was added for the 1900–1901 term, increasing enrollment to 148 pupils and four teachers. In 1900 a second community named Saragosa, located in the southernmost part of the county, was designated as a post office. That year the census recorded a total county population of 1,847, including 474 foreign-born residents, twelve African Americans, and ten Chinese.

Toyah organized its first church in 1902. In 1900 Reeves County reported five manufacturing establishments employing sixteen workers at total wages of $8,835 and producing goods valued at $30,085. By 1920 the number of manufacturers had increased to nine, employing sixty-two workers who earned more than $88,000 and produced goods valued at $187,000.

From 1940 to 1967, the number of manufacturing establishments grew from five to seventeen, but declined to eleven by 1982. The value of manufactured products increased from $165,807 in 1940 to $3.6 million by 1977. Despite this growth, manufacturing remained secondary to agriculture and petroleum in the county’s economy.