McCamey

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McCamey
Nickname : The Wind Energy Capital of Texas
McCamey (Texas)
McCamey
McCamey
Location in Texas
Basic data
Foundation : 1926
State : United States
State : Texas
County : Upton County
Coordinates : 31 ° 8 ′  N , 102 ° 13 ′  W Coordinates: 31 ° 8 ′  N , 102 ° 13 ′  W
Time zone : Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 )
Residents : 2,063 (as of 2017)
Population density : 396.7 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 5.2 km 2  (approx. 2 mi 2 )
Height : 752 m
Postal code : 79752
Area code : +1 432
FIPS : 48-45432
GNIS ID : 1362369
Website : www.mccameycity.com
Mayor : Patty Jones

McCamey is a city with the status " City " in Upton County of the US state Texas with 2063 inhabitants (as of 2017).

geography

McCamey is located approximately 80 kilometers south of Odessa , 410 kilometers east of El Paso and 440 kilometers west of Austin . The US Highway 67 runs through McCamey. At a distance of 20 kilometers in the west, the Pecos River flows from north to south.

history

In September 1925, pioneer and wildcatter George B. McCamey bought land in the area, carried out test drilling, and found an abundant source of crude oil. As a result, various larger companies in the oil industry carried out further drilling, opened new wells and expanded production. On March 5, 1926, the city with the name of the pioneer was officially founded. After a railway line reached the place, its attractiveness grew. During the peak of the oil boom, up to 10,000 people, mostly migrant workers, were employed in McCamey, most of whom lived in tents or simple barracks. With the beginning of the global economic crisis , the demand for petroleum products slackened noticeably, the price of crude oil fell significantly, the number of unemployed rose and the population of the town fell to around 2,600 people by 1940. The main livelihood of the remaining inhabitants, however, remained the oil industry.

Due to the difficult economic situation and the further reduced population to 1805, the citizens of McCameys coined the slogan "75 years, and still alive" in 2000, the year of the 75th anniversary. Shortly afterwards, however, an economic boom began with new technologies. On the one hand, natural gas was extracted from the deeper earth formations using the hydraulic fracturing process (fracking), but on a much larger scale wind turbines were built to supply energy. Since the landscape in Upton County is sparsely populated, flat and very windy, wind farms are very suitable for the area. In 2020 there will be several hundred wind turbines in the vicinity of McCamey for the generation of electrical energy and the place may be called The Wind Energy Capital of Texas (the Texan capital of wind energy) with an official license from the federal capital Austin .

Since the barren, steppe-like area is located in the sun belt of the USA and is therefore very sunny , solar systems began to be installed at the beginning of the 21st century and huge areas in the uninhabited area of ​​McCamey are to be equipped with this technology for energy generation in the future. The German energy supply groups RWE and E.ON are also participating in such projects. Labor-intensive oil technology using horsehead pumps , however, remains an important occupation for the town as it is located in the Spraberry oil field , which still has very large reserves of petroleum. Thus, the small town of McCamey is the rare example of a place where the oil industry, hydraulic fracturing, extensive wind farms and solar systems, very different energy generation processes exist side by side.

  • Typical horse head pump

  • Fracking plant

  • Solar system in Texas

  • Roscoe Wind Farm in Texas

  • Wind Energy Capital of Texas

Museums

There are two museums in McCamey:

  • The Mendoza Trail Museum contains exhibits of Native American artifacts , ancient fossils, and memorabilia from the area's oil boom.
  • The Adrian House provides a snapshot of the past with antique furniture and decorations.

Demographic data

In 2017 a population of 2063 people was determined. The mean age at this point in time was 29.1 years, below the value of Texas, which was 34.7 years. Almost 60% of the population are Hispanic .

sons and daughters of the town

Jill Jackson (* 1942), as "Paula" part of the singing duo Paul & Paula

Trivia

Since there were many rattlesnakes ( Crotalus ) in the desert and steppe-like surroundings of McCamey , the first so-called rattlesnake derby was held in the USA in 1936 . The catcher of most of the snakes was awarded at a folk festival. The event is no longer carried out these days. However, rattlesnakes are still abundant in the area and workers in the wind farms are advised to wear gauntlets over their shoes to protect them from snakebites.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information from the Texas State Historical Association
  2. ↑ Winand von Petersdorff: The eco-miracle of Texas. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . February 24, 2020, accessed March 10, 2020 .
  3. ^ McCamey City data
  4. ↑ Nancy Capace: The Encyclopedia of Texas Volume I , Sommerset Publishers, 1999, ISBN 0-403-09729-0 , p 461

Web links

Commons : McCamey, Texas  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files