Monroe City, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Monroe City, Texas
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 Monroe City, Texas
Location in Texas
Monroe City, Texas
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Chambers |
| Elevation | 26 ft (8 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code(s) | 409 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1341804 |
Monroe City is a small place in Chambers County, Texas, United States. It's called an unincorporated community, which means it's not officially a city with its own local government. It's more like a neighborhood or a small town that is part of the larger county.
In 2000, about 90 people lived there. Monroe City is located within the larger Greater Houston area.
History of Monroe City
Monroe City started because of a big discovery in 1935: the Anahuac oilfield. This meant there was a lot of oil underground! The town was named after Monroe White, a well-known person in the area.
Big oil companies like Humble Oil and Refining Company (which is now ExxonMobil), Sun Oil, and Gulf Oil were very active there. They needed workers, and those workers needed places to live and shop.
By the end of 1935, a store opened in the oilfield camp. A post office for Monroe City opened the next year, in 1936. By 1939, some reports say about 300 people lived in the town.
In 1940, Monroe City had a camp for a company called Brown and Root. It also had a lumberyard, a few stores, and homes for the oilfield workers. It was a busy place because of the oil.
However, after the oil boom slowed down, the number of people living there also dropped. From 120 people in the late 1940s, the population fell to 90 by 1970. It stayed at 90 until the year 2000. By 2010, only 11 people lived there.
Even though the population went down, the Anahuac oilfield produced a lot of oil. By 1985, it had produced over 270 million barrels of crude oil. There's even a special plaque from the Texas Historical Commission that remembers this important oilfield.
Where is Monroe City?
Monroe City is located in the middle of Chambers County, Texas. You can find it where two roads meet: Farm to Market Road 1724 and Texas State Highway 124.
It's about 39 miles (63 km) southwest of Beaumont. It's also about 55 miles (89 km) east of Houston. The town of Anahuac is just 6 miles (10 km) to the east.
Schools in the Area
Children living in Monroe City attend schools operated by the Anahuac Independent School District.
