Big Lake, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Big Lake, Texas
|
|
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Reagan |
| Area | |
| • Total | 7.50 sq mi (6.19 km2) |
| • Land | 7.50 sq mi (6.19 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 2,690 ft (820 m) |
| Population
(2020)
|
|
| • Total | 2,965 |
| • Density | 1,409.97/sq mi (544.32/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code |
76932
|
| Area code | 325 |
| FIPS code | 48-08212 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1352089 |
| Website | www.biglaketx.com |
Big Lake is a small city in Reagan County, Texas, United States. It is the main town in the county. In 2010, about 2,936 people lived there.
Contents
What is Big Lake Like?
Big Lake is located on a high area between two big rivers, the Rio Grande and the Colorado River. The city gets its name from a special dry lake. This dry lake is about two miles south of the city.
It is the biggest dry lake in Texas. It fills with water only after heavy rains. The rest of the time, it is used for grazing animals. Even though it's dry most of the time, this "big playa lake" was important for people and animals. They used it for food and water for thousands of years.
Big Lake started as a small ranching community in the late 1880s. It grew when the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway came through in 1912. The city grew even more after oil was discovered nearby in 1923. In 1925, Big Lake became the county seat, taking over from a town called Stiles. Today, Big Lake's economy relies on farming, ranching, and the oil and gas industry.
Big Lake's History
In 1919, a man named Rupert Ricker leased a lot of land from the University of Texas. He couldn't afford to drill for oil himself. So, he sold the rights to Frank Pickrell and Haymon Krupp. They started the Texon Oil and Land Company.
Their geologist, Hugh H. Tucker, chose a spot to drill. In 1921, they hired Carl G. Cromwell to start drilling the first well. On May 28, 1923, something amazing happened. The Santa Rita No. 1 well suddenly gushed oil! This was after drilling down about 3,028 feet.
At first, the well produced 100 barrels of oil each day. The oil flowed onto the ground for over a month. Later, the oil was sent by train to a refinery. In October 1923, Michael Late Benedum bought the Texon discovery. He formed the Big Lake Oil Company. By 1924, this oil field was the first major oil field in the Permian Basin. By 1926, the field had 74 wells producing a lot of oil every day.
Where is Big Lake?
Big Lake is located at 31°11′38″N 101°27′32″W.
The city covers an area of about 1.2 square miles (3.1 square kilometers). All of this area is land. The city is served by the Texas Pacifico Transportation railway, which was once the Kansas City, Mexico, and Orient Railway.
Who Lives in Big Lake?
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 832 | — | |
| 1940 | 763 | −8.3% | |
| 1950 | 2,152 | 182.0% | |
| 1960 | 2,668 | 24.0% | |
| 1970 | 2,489 | −6.7% | |
| 1980 | 3,404 | 36.8% | |
| 1990 | 3,672 | 7.9% | |
| 2000 | 2,885 | −21.4% | |
| 2010 | 2,936 | 1.8% | |
| 2020 | 2,965 | 1.0% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
People in Big Lake (2020)
In 2020, there were 2,965 people living in Big Lake. Here's a look at the different groups of people:
| Group | Number of People | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| White (NH) | 780 | 26.31% |
| Black or African American (NH) | 31 | 1.05% |
| Native American or Alaska Native (NH) | 12 | 0.4% |
| Asian (NH) | 18 | 0.61% |
| Pacific Islander (NH) | 1 | 0.03% |
| Other Race (NH) | 5 | 0.17% |
| Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH) | 58 | 1.96% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 2,060 | 69.48% |
| Total | 2,965 |
In 2020, there were 964 households and 710 families living in the city.
Big Lake's Weather
Big Lake has a hot semiarid climate. This means it's usually dry with hot summers. Summers are long and very hot. Winters are short and not too cold. In summer, the air is not very humid, which makes the heat feel a bit better.
Because it's dry and high up, temperatures drop quickly after the sun sets, especially in summer. Some rain falls in summer, mostly from quick thunderstorms. Winters are dry. Sometimes, winter nights get below freezing, but it's rarely very cold for long. Snow is rare and usually melts fast.
| Climate data for Big Lake, Texas (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1963–2021) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 85 (29) |
92 (33) |
95 (35) |
104 (40) |
108 (42) |
110 (43) |
109 (43) |
107 (42) |
106 (41) |
100 (38) |
91 (33) |
84 (29) |
110 (43) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 60.4 (15.8) |
65.3 (18.5) |
72.9 (22.7) |
81.5 (27.5) |
87.7 (30.9) |
92.6 (33.7) |
94.3 (34.6) |
95.0 (35.0) |
88.6 (31.4) |
80.1 (26.7) |
69.1 (20.6) |
61.2 (16.2) |
79.1 (26.2) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 46.9 (8.3) |
51.1 (10.6) |
58.8 (14.9) |
66.6 (19.2) |
74.1 (23.4) |
80.6 (27.0) |
82.7 (28.2) |
82.5 (28.1) |
75.8 (24.3) |
66.9 (19.4) |
55.7 (13.2) |
48.2 (9.0) |
65.8 (18.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 33.4 (0.8) |
36.8 (2.7) |
44.6 (7.0) |
51.7 (10.9) |
60.6 (15.9) |
68.7 (20.4) |
71.1 (21.7) |
70.1 (21.2) |
63.0 (17.2) |
53.7 (12.1) |
42.2 (5.7) |
35.2 (1.8) |
52.6 (11.4) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 2 (−17) |
8 (−13) |
5 (−15) |
24 (−4) |
33 (1) |
44 (7) |
52 (11) |
53 (12) |
32 (0) |
18 (−8) |
11 (−12) |
1 (−17) |
1 (−17) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.03 (26) |
0.79 (20) |
0.97 (25) |
1.47 (37) |
1.84 (47) |
2.05 (52) |
2.10 (53) |
1.77 (45) |
2.34 (59) |
1.60 (41) |
1.35 (34) |
0.87 (22) |
18.18 (462) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.9 (2.3) |
0.5 (1.3) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.4 (1.0) |
0.5 (1.3) |
2.3 (5.8) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 5.1 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 44.3 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
Education in Big Lake
The schools in Big Lake are part of the Reagan County Independent School District.
Images for kids
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Santa Rita No. 1 rig, used when the Big Lake Oil Field was found in 1923.
See also
In Spanish: Big Lake (Texas) para niños
