Megargel

Duane's take

The official marker tells this one, and I'm just the voice that carries it down the road. Thirty years. That's how long Archer County had been on the map — created by the Texas Legislature, sitting out there in the rolling mesquite country — before the railroad finally came calling.

In 1910, the Gulf, Texas and Western Railroad started pushing its track from Jacksboro up toward Seymour, and wherever those rails went, towns had a way of sprouting up right behind them. That same year, the trinity townsite company moved fast. They purchased land from the prominent Meade family, laid out a brand new town along the tracks, and named it Megargel — after the rail company's own president, a man by the name of Roy C.

Megargel. Nothing modest about that, but then, nothing modest about what happened next either. Within just a few months of its founding, Megargel was already fielding almost two dozen stores.

A hotel. A bank. A post office.

Town residents organized a school district, and three teachers showed up to hold things together. Three teachers — for a town that hadn't existed the year before. That's the kind of momentum that makes a place feel like destiny.

The population kept climbing, and by 1914, Megargel had its own newspaper — the Megargel Times. Then in 1917, residents built a new schoolhouse, and in 1918, the first graduating class walked out of it. All five of them.

Five students. You remember that number, because things were about to get considerably bigger. 1923. That's when the second boom hit, and it came out of the ground — specifically, out of the nearby Swastika oilfield.

The opening of that field touched off a run of growth that even a disastrous downtown fire in 1925 couldn't slow down for long. By 1926, there were approximately 350 operating wells in the vicinity. Three hundred and fifty.

The town got its first theater during that stretch, and the school district — also swelling right along with everything else — created one of the earliest high school bands in the entire state of Texas. That was 1927, and Megargel was humming. But booms have a way of testing a town's character on the back end.

The oil kept coming, but the Great Depression arrived with its own ideas, and population began to thin. Then came World War II, and the railroad that had conjured Megargel into existence in the first place was abandoned. Many residents left — some for military service, some to work in wartime industries.

The tracks that once carried the town's name into the future went quiet. Today, oil and agriculture together carry the economy forward. And the Megargel Cemetery, along with other historic resources, keeps the thread connected to everything that came before — the boom days, the fire, the band, the five graduates, and a town that got its name because a railroad president once laid steel across the Archer County plains.

Some towns earn their place on the map. Megargel built one practically overnight — and then held on.

What the marker says

In 1910, thirty years after the Texas Legislature created Archer County, the Gulf, Texas & Western Railroad began extending its track from Jacksboro to Seymour. That year the trinity townsite company laid out a new town along the tracks on land purchased from the prominent Meade family. The company named the town Megargel for the rail company president, Roy C. Megargel. Within a few months of its founding, Megargel had almost two dozen stores, a hotel, a bank and a post office. Town residents soon organized a school district, served initially by three teachers. The population continued to grow and in 1914, the Megargel Times began its run as the city paper. In 1917, Megargel residents built a new schoolhouse; the first graduating class, in 1918, consisted of five students. A second population boom began in 1923 with the opening of the nearby Swastika oilfield. Although Megargel suffered a disastrous downtown fire in 1925, it continued to grow rapidly as a result of regional oil production. By 1926, there were approximately 350 operating wells in the vicinity. During that time, the town's first theater opened. The school district, also growing, created one of Texas' earliest high school bands in 1927. Although the area continued to produce oil, the Great Depression and other factors caused a decline in population. During World War II, the railroad was abandoned and many residents left for military service or to work in wartime industries. Today, in addition to oil, agriculture is an important part of the economy. The Megargel Cemetery and other historic resources help preserve the link to the town's history and boom era. (2004)