JUDKINS, TEXAS. Judkins, on U.S. Highway 80 and the Missouri Pacific Railroad in southwestern Ector County, was established as a station on the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1880 and named for Frank Judkins, an early landowner. Several German farm families moved from East Texas, and in 1905 Judkins had a post office, a gin, and several buildings. But a scarcity of rain was a constant threat to local farmers. After the drought of 1910 ended cotton and corn farming, Judkins was practically deserted. In 1920 the town had a population of fifteen and one business. The 1920 oil boom brought in a few more residents, but by the 1980s many of the people had moved to Penwell four miles away. By 1980 no population was reported for Judkins.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Finas Wade Horton, A History of Ector County, Texas (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1950).

William R. Hunt