Florey Park

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along to you straight. Out here in Andrews County, there's a park with a name that reaches back further than the park itself, further even than the county. Florey.

The name comes from an old town, established as a post office seven miles to the northeast, back in 1909. Andrews County itself didn't even organize until June of 1910, so that little post office was out here on its own, holding down the land before there was much of anything official to hold it down with. That's the kind of deep root a name like Florey has got.

And now, sitting right in the heart of the Means Oil Field, opened in 1930, there's a park carrying that name forward. But between the old post office and the park, something else had to happen first. In 1934, Humble Oil and Refining Company set up a camp right on this very ground.

For twenty-four years, residents of that camp did something you might not expect from an oil outfit in the middle of West Texas scrubland. They built an oasis. Lush grass.

Tall trees. A recreation area that pulled visitors in from all parts of the county. People came from every corner of Andrews County to be here, which tells you something about what this place felt like against everything surrounding it.

The camp ran all the way to 1958, and on September 22 of that year, Humble Company donated the land to be used as a county park. Twenty-four years of residents had done the hard, quiet work of making something worth giving. And give it they did.

What the marker says

Named for old town of Florey, established as a post office 7 miles to the northeast in 1909, prior to the organization of Andrews County, June 1910. In heart of the Means Oil Field, opened 1930, this park is at site of a 1934-1958 camp of Humble Oil and Refining Company. In the 24 years of the camp's history, its many residents developed an oasis here. The recreation area, with its lush grass and tall trees, attracted visitors from all parts of the county. On September 22, 1958, Humble Company donated the land to be used as a county park. (1965)