Masterson

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Masterson, out there in Moore County. Now settle in, because this one starts with gas, ends with helium, and somewhere in the middle becomes a whole community that the postal service wouldn't even let keep its own name. That's Texas for you.

In 1927, three companies combined their ambitions and their resources to construct a natural gas plant and a pipeline — all to push gas up to Denver, Colorado. Way up north. And because you can't run an operation like that in the middle of the Panhandle plains without people to work it, small houses and a hotel went up too.

Married workers got the houses, single workers got the hotel, and pretty soon there were children running around, so a one-room school was constructed on land donated by a man named Miles Bivins. The community that grew up around all of this took on the name Bivins, natural as anything. The camp grew.

The school grew. Life went on. Then came World War II, and with it a whole new demand — helium.

The Bureau of Mines moved in and constructed a plant near Bivins. It began production in 1943, after U.S. entry into the war. And a new plant meant new workers, and new workers meant new needs.

So seventy-five homes went up. Garages. A recreation hall.

A playground. The place was humming. Then came the moment that'll make you chuckle a little — when the community finally got around to establishing a post office in the late 1940s, the postal service looked at the name Bivins and said, no thank you.

Rejected outright. So a new name was submitted: Masterson, after a prominent area rancher. And Masterson it became.

A Baptist church was organized, and it didn't much matter what denomination you claimed — folks of all kinds attended. The 4-H clubs flourished. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, home demonstration clubs — the whole civic tapestry of a real, living community.

But here's the thing about company towns. They're built on need, and when the need shifts, so does everything else. In 1963, residents at the original Bivins site were notified their homes were to be sold and they must move.

The Exell site began emptying out too. By 1970, both camps were practically abandoned. The school held on until 1978.

The post office lasted until 1984. The Exell Helium Plant closed in the late 1990s. But the Bivins plant — the one where it all started back in 1927 — that one continues to gather and produce natural gas to this day.

The name Bivins didn't survive the post office. But the work? The work is still running.

What the marker says

In 1927, three companies combined to construct a natural gas plant and pipeline to produce gas for Denver, Colorado. Small houses and a hotel were constructed for married and single workers. A one-room school was soon constructed for the workers’ children on land donated by Miles Bivins, and the small community came to be known as Bivins. In later years the camp and the school expanded. To meet the demand for helium during World War II, a plant to be operated by the Bureau of Mines was constructed near Bivins; it began production in 1943, after U.S. entry into the war. In order to provide services to the workers at the new Exell Helium Plant, seventy-five homes, garages, a recreation hall and a playground were also constructed at the site. During the late 1940s a post office was established in the community and when the postal service rejected the name “Bivins,” the name “Masterson” was submitted after a prominent area rancher. A Baptist church was organized and attended by members of all denominations, and community activities such as 4-H, Boy and Girl Scouts and home demonstration clubs flourished. In 1963, residents of the original Bivins site were notified that their homes were to be sold and they must move, and residents at the Exell site also began to move away, leaving both camps practically abandoned by 1970. The local school closed in 1978 and the post office closed in 1984. While the Exell Helium Plant closed in the late 1990s, the Bivins plant continues to gather and produce natural gas. (2010)