Old Duval Townsite
Kermit, Winkler County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First post office in Winkler (then part of Tom Green) County opened near here (1908) on John Howe ranch. Mail came in twice weekly to serve 300 persons. Duval townsite, promoted all over the United States by the Pueblo Investment Co., opened on March 19, 1910, with free lots, a picnic, and cowboy tournament. In April, Kermit became seat of Winkler County; post office moved there in October. Duval failed to develop and townsite rights were canceled after 1928 oil discovery here. Ownership of many valuable lots sold in 1910 is still unclear today. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Winkler County's first post office opened near here in 1908 on the John Howe ranch, serving 300 people with mail twice a week. The Pueblo Investment Company promoted the Duval townsite nationwide, opening it in March 1910 with free lots, a picnic, and a cowboy tournament—but when Kermit won the county seat, Duval withered. After oil was struck in 1928 its townsite rights were canceled, leaving the ownership of many 1910 lots tangled to this day.
Why it matters
Duval is a classic West Texas ghost town, a monument to the speculative townsite booms and busts of the early oil frontier.
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Related people
- · John Howe
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Carved from Tom Green County and created in 1887, Winkler County waited until 1910 to fully organize, taking shape as a ranching frontier in far West Texas. It honors C. M. Winkler, a nineteenth-century statesman, soldier, and jurist, and centers on its seat at Kermit. Cattle grazing gave way, in time, to the petroleum wealth that came to define the region.
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