Oil Came Late to Tom Green County's Story

Oil came late to Tom Green County's working-land story. It was discovered here in 1940. By then, San Angelo had spent more than half a century shipping cattle, sheep, goats, wool, and mohair by rail. Oil added another industry. It did not replace the ranch and market economy that had built the city.

Oil and gas are not spread evenly from fence line to fence line. The Handbook of Texas places them mainly in the south-central and northwest parts of Tom Green County. That patchy map is more useful than treating the whole county as one oil field. It tied the new industry to rock under certain ranches rather than to a city market.

The timing also sets Tom Green apart from the usual boomtown tale. San Angelo was already the county seat, a rail center, and a wool market when oil arrived. It became one more layer in an economy built on the Concho rivers, ranch grass, livestock, warehouses, and trains.