Winkler County: Sand Hills, Oil History, and Culture

At around midnight on September 3, 1926, the Winkler County Discovery Well brought up oil and rock in great bursts. Winkler County’s history connects this oil episode with a landscape whose sand belt and ridges are as distinctive as the places tied to its local history.

Sand Hills and Blue Mountain

The Sand Hills form a 100-mile sand belt that extends through Winkler County, four other Texas counties, and New Mexico. They include dunes more than 70 feet high. Water two feet below the surface makes it possible for willows, cottonwoods, and plum thickets to grow there. The county’s vegetation also includes grasses, brush, creosote bushes, and cacti.

At 3,400 feet, Blue Mountain is Winkler County’s highest point and forms the southern escarpment of the Llano Estacado. An archaeological excavation in 1938 documented rock shelters with mortar holes, along with rock images of human hands, snakes, horses, and geometric patterns. The landscape here can be described not only by its ridges and dunes: traces of earlier use are also part of its character.

Markers, Buildings, and Oil History

The historical marker for Winkler County is in Winkler County Park on S. East Ave., on the east side between Tommy Thompson and Cecil Ave., along a walking path. The Winkler County Courthouse is a four-story building in the Classical Revival and Beaux-Arts styles, designed by architect David Castle. In Kermit, Pioneer Park is home to Kermit’s Oldest Home, a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and the Moorhead Cable Tool Rig. The latter is considered the last wooden oil derrick in the United States to end its daily use.

The Community Church is also part of Kermit’s architectural history: it is the city’s first brick building and was dedicated in 1938. Wink was founded in 1926 after oil was discovered in the Hendrick Oilfield and was originally called Winkler, after the county. Kermit was named for Kermit Roosevelt, the son of President Theodore Roosevelt, who had visited a local ranch. Kermit is considered a center of cattle ranching; Winkler County is one of the state’s major oil and natural gas producing areas.

Old Duval Townsite opened on March 19, 1910, with free lots, a picnic, and a cowboy tournament. Nearby, the first post office in what was then Winkler County had opened in 1908 on John Howe’s ranch. At that time, the county was still part of Tom Green County.

Early Routes and Cultural Traces

The Sand Hills were mapped in 1849 for gold seekers and settlers; Indigenous groups and many Spanish explorers had known them earlier. Willow Springs lies in the Sand Hills and was an important water source for the Comanche and pioneers in West Texas. After gold was discovered in 1849, gold seekers often used Willow Springs on their way to California. From the 17th century through the 1870s, the Comanche used the White Sandhills and Blue Mountain in the Winkler County area as gathering places. An Apache trail ran through Winkler County from Monument Springs in New Mexico toward Shafter Lake in what is now Andrews County.

Music is also part of local history. During his school years, Roy Orbison formed the band Wink Westerners with friends. They played at local honky-tonks and had a weekly radio show on KERB in Kermit. Orbison lived in Wink as a child and performed with various country-western bands in the 1950s. The Roy Orbison Museum in Wink is dedicated to his life and work.

Local Orientation and Activities

Winkler County Airport is about three miles from Wink and has a 4,502-foot paved runway. Winkler County Golf Course is seven miles west of Kermit on Highway 302. If golf is part of your trip plans, check current operating details before visiting.

Discover more destinations: Kermit, Galveston, Lavaca, Pecos County, Tarrant, Llano, Terry County, Hays.

For the broader travel overview: Texas.