FLOREY, TEXAS. Florey, on U.S. Highway 385 twelve miles north of Andrews in northwestern Andrews County, was named for A. J. Florey, a pioneer rancher who settled in the area in 1908. The original townsite of Florey was located approximately eight miles northeast of the current site. The community, originally called Smackover, was first formed around 1903 by Pete Hollebeke, Willis Howell, Bob Hill, and the Jimerson families. When a post office began operation there in 1909, Lee N. Smith was postmaster. That same year the community's first school was built through donations, and Miss Edna McCorkle was appointed the first teacher. On December 15, 1938, the Florey school was incorporated into the Andrews Independent School District. A camp for the Humble Oil Company (later Exxon Company, U.S.A) was established in Florey in 1934. Sometime after Humble Camp opened, the town of Florey shifted its location to what is present-day U. S. Highway 385. In 1940 the community had one store and a population of fifty. The camp was closed in 1958, and on September 22, 1958, Humble donated the camp to Andrews County for a park. In 1978 Florey consisted mainly of the county park. The community reported a population of twenty-five in 1990 and again in 2000.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Andrews County History, 1876–1978 (Andrews, Texas: Andrews County Heritage Committee, 1978). Historical marker files, Texas Historical Commission, Austin (Florey Park). David T. (Butch) Seay, Stories My Wife Wishes I Wouldn't Tell the Children: Memoirs of a Boy's Life in a West Texas Oil Camp (Franklin, Tennessee: David T. Seay Publishing, 2006).
