Col-Tex Refinery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1924, two men named L. H.

Prichard and J. Steve Anderson opened a place called West Texas Refinery Company just west of Colorado City. Their business was processing Mitchell County oil, and they set up right there on the edge of town to do it.

Now, ownership has a way of moving on, and sure enough it did. Standard Oil of California came into the picture, took over, and renamed the operation Col-Tex Refining. New name, same patch of West Texas ground.

From the 1930s all the way through the 1950s, that refinery was running flat out, twelve thousand barrels a day at full capacity. Twelve thousand. Let that number sit a moment.

Colorado City knew it, too. The refinery was a major part of life there. It employed a whole lot of local workers, and folks around town timed their daily activities by the refinery whistle.

Not a clock on the wall, not the church bell. The refinery whistle. That tells you something about how deep that place ran in the rhythm of the community.

Then 1958 rolls around, and Cosden Petroleum Company acquires the refinery. Five years after that, Cosden sells it to American Petrofina, which manages things until operations cease in 1969. Quiet after that.

Years pass. Then in 1992, Fina, the successor to American Petrofina, commences environmental cleanup of the site. The whistle had long gone silent by then, but the ground still held the story.

And now, so does this marker.

What the marker says

In 1924, L. H. Prichard and J. Steve Anderson opened West Texas Refinery Company just west of Colorado City to process Mitchell County oil. Ownership soon changed to Standard Oil of California, which renamed the company Col-Tex Refining. From the 1930s to 1950s, the refinery operated at a full capacity of 12,000 barrels a day. The company was a major part of Colorado City life; it employed many local workers and residents timed their activities by the refinery whistle. In 1958, Cosden Petroleum Company acquired the refinery and sold it five years later to American Petrofina, which managed the refinery until ceasing operations in 1969. Their successor, Fina, commenced environmental cleanup of the refinery in 1992. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011