Wickett

History

If it had not been for George W. O'Brien, the place which was to become Wickett might have remained as Aroya, merely a switch and a section house on the Texas and Pacific Railroad, established to house one of the maintenance crews for the railroad. O'Brien gave Southern Crude's camp (for employees), for offices, tank farm and loading racks. O'Brien furnished the land for the townsite which was to become Wickett (named for Fred H. Wickett, a chairman of the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Co., of which Southern Crude was a subsidiary). Wickett's official "birthday" was February 14, 1927; and the rush for residence and business lots in the new town was like the early days of Nevada and California. After celebrating its four-weeks anniversary on March 4, 1927, Wickett's "fathers" were planning to make it the county seat of Ward County. The new town's early arrivals lived in crude frame shacks, in tents and under wagons. A two-story, forty-two room hotel was constructed. The Bluebonnet Refinery was built in Wickett by a group of men under the leadership of B.L. Woolley of Dallas and H.B. Hassett of St. Louis, Missouri, to process crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, diesel and other fuel oil. Onnie Mae O'Brien became the first Postmistress on June 14, 1927, after a petition was circulated for the designation of Wickett for a U.S. Post Office. Wickett Independent School District was created on August 20, 1928, by taking 14 sections from the Monahans District and 21 sections from the Pyote District. The Wickett School District was one of the richest of its size in the state. A two-room brick building was constructed and circa 1932, a two-room cafeteria was built. The 14 sections were returned to Monahans District in 1931. In 1928, Bluebonnet Refinery was sold and the…

Geography

Wickett is located at (31.569032, –103.006896). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.7 square mile (1.8 km2), all land.

Most-observed species

• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  332
• Scaled Quail

  Callipepla squamata (Vigors, 1830) · Aves
  203
• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  198
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  191
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  188
• Western Kingbird

  Tyrannus verticalis Say, 1823 · Aves
  166
• White-winged Dove

  Zenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  118
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  118

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2026-10-07
  10 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
• M 2.6 — 2026-09-25
  11 km NE of Toyah, Texas
• M 2.9 — 2026-09-24
  37 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2026-09-22
  33 km WSW of Mentone, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2026-09-17
  40 km ESE of Malaga, New Mexico
• M 2.6 — 2026-09-12
  18 km NNW of Jal, New Mexico