Ben Wheeler

History

The area around Ben Wheeler was first settled in the 1840s by Kentucky farmer Benjamin F. Wheeler. Originally known as Clough, after prominent local farmer George W. Clough, the community was renamed Ben Wheeler in 1878 after the town's post office was relocated to the present townsite. The community was beset by many hardships in its early years, including an 1893 fire which destroyed most of the town's businesses. By 1896, the population reached 500, but disaster struck again by way of a smallpox epidemic that reduced the number of residents to 238 by 1904. Somewhat insulated from the effects of the Great Depression by the East Texas Oil Boom, Ben Wheeler had 18 businesses and a population of 375 in 1943. As the oil boom subsided and area cotton production fell, however, Ben Wheeler began a decline which led to the closing of all but nine area businesses by 1972, and the consolidation of its schools with those in nearby Van. By 1988, however, buoyed by the growth of nearby Tyler and Canton, the number of operating businesses in Ben Wheeler had risen to twenty-two and in 2000 the community was home to an estimated 400 residents. On Wednesday, April 27, 2011, a moderate tornado with sustained winds of 90-100 mph struck the communities of Ben Wheeler and Edom, Texas. Three structures were destroyed and upwards of another one hundred structures damaged.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  370
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  327
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  293
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  275
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  261
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  244
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  223
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  223

Largest nearby schools

• VAN H S
  High · VAN · 793 students · 15.3:1 ratio
• VAN MIDDLE
  Middle · VAN · 512 students · 16:1 ratio
• RHODES EL
  Elementary · VAN · 392 students · 16.3:1 ratio
• VAN J H
  Middle · VAN · 389 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• VAN INT
  Elementary · VAN · 321 students · 14.6:1 ratio
• MARTINS MILL EL
  Elementary · MARTIN'S MILL · 284 students · 14.2:1 ratio
• MARTINS MILL H S
  High · MARTIN'S MILL · 211 students · 8.4:1 ratio
• RANCH ACADEMY
  High · CANTON · 93 students · 23.3:1 ratio