Ozona's Water System
Ozona, Crockett County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This site was selected for the Crockett County seat in 1891 because of a producing water well (200' NW). Joe Moss, who drilled for water throughout the area, dug the well for E. M. Powell (1847-1925), railroad surveyor, financier, and land developer. Powell laid out the town, donated the water well, windmill, storage cistern, and land for public buildings. Immediately the commissioners court designated the well site as county property. Residents hauled water home by hand, on horseback, and by wagon. Later a wagon delivered barrels of water door-to-door. As a result of Ozona's rapid growth by 1900, Judge Charles E. Davidson organized locally-owned "Ozona Improvement Company." The business drilled more wells and laid a pipeline in town. This hilltop, a familiar site of windmills and sprawling storage tanks, was called "Waterworks Hill." In a few years power equipment was added to provide electricity and ice. A municipal water district was formed in the late 1930s under the guidance of Joe North. Ozona has not suffered from a decrease in its water supply during times of drought. Its water system utilizes the vast underground limestone formations in which moisture is stored. (1979)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Ozona was chosen as the seat of Crockett County in 1891 precisely because of a producing water well, dug for land developer E. M. Powell, who laid out the town and donated its well, windmill, and public land. Residents first hauled water home by hand, horseback, and wagon before Judge Charles E. Davidson's Ozona Improvement Company drilled more wells and laid pipe. "Waterworks Hill," crowned with windmills and storage tanks, tapped the vast limestone aquifer that has carried the town through droughts ever since.
Why it matters
In the arid country of West Texas, the location of reliable water decided where towns could exist at all, and Ozona's waterworks show how communities engineered survival on the dry frontier.
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Related people
- · E. M. Powell
- · Charles E. Davidson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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