Site of Wichita Valley Refinery and Texas Oklahoma Fair

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this stretch of Iowa Park ground, and friend, it's got more layers than you might expect. Now this particular piece of Wichita County real estate has lived at least two distinct lives, and neither one of them was quiet. Let's start with the oil.

In 1914, right here at Iowa Park, somebody had the notion to build Wichita County's very first oil refinery. The outfit behind it was the Wichita Valley Refining Company, and they started small. Modest, even.

But the oil business has a way of growing on a person. By 1918, that humble little operation had stretched itself into something considerable: fifty-three tank cars, twelve miles of pipeline, and twenty-five hundred barrels of crude oil rolling out every single day. From a small scale start to a genuine industrial operation, just like that.

Then 1919 came around, and the whole thing was sold to the Texhoma Refining Company. Change of hands, change of name. Then in 1922, the Walker Consolidated Producing and Refining Company stepped in and took over, improving the plant and the pipeline operations.

Now that sounds like a company with plans. And maybe they had good ones. But the refinery only kept functioning until about 1926.

For all that, the marker is clear: it was significant in the county's petroleum industry history. Sometimes significance and longevity don't travel together. But here's the thing about this land.

It didn't stay quiet after the oil business wound down. The Wichita County fair had been running over in Wichita Falls since 1922. A local newspaper publisher took it upon himself to promote it, and people showed up.

Agriculture, livestock, industry, all the pride of the Northwest Texas and Southern Oklahoma region gathered in one place every year. Then in 1928, the fair packed up and moved right here to Iowa Park. Same ground that had been running crude oil through pipelines not long before.

And it grew. That county fair grew into something called the Texas-Oklahoma Fair and Southwest Oil Exposition, a six-day festival drawing from two states. For decades it was a genuine annual event, the kind of thing people marked on their calendars.

Until it wasn't. By 1962, attendance was falling, revenue was falling, and fires had destroyed several of the buildings. The fair closed.

Just like that, the festival life of this property was over too. Later on, the land was developed into a retail center. Oil refinery, county fairgrounds, shopping center.

Three lives on one patch of Iowa Park dirt. The marker doesn't say what comes next. But then, it never does.

What the marker says

Wichita County's first oil refinery was built in 1914 at Iowa Park by the Wichita Valley Refining Company. Established on a small scale, the company soon expanded and by 1918 owned 53 tank cars, had 12 miles of pipeline, and was producing 2,500 barrels of crude oil daily. The operation was sold in 1919 to Texhoma Refining Company. In 1922 the company was succeeded by the Walker Consolidated Producing and Refining Company, which improved plant and pipeline operations. Although functioning only until about 1926, the refinery was significant in the county's petroleum industry history. The Wichita County fair, which began in Wichita Falls in 1922, moved to this Iowa Park site in 1928. Promoted by the local newspaper publisher, the county fair became a popular annual event featuring agriculture, livestock, and industry of the Northwest Texas and Southern Oklahoma region. The six-day festival became the Texas-Oklahoma Fair and Southwest Oil Exposition. The fair closed in 1962 due to declining attendance and revenue and fires that destroyed several buildings. The property was later developed into a retail center. (1997)