Comyn or Theney - Texas Ghost Town

COMYN OR THENEY

NAME: College Mound
COUNTY: Comanche
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 3
CLIMATE: Warm winter, hot summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT:Winter, spring, fall

COMMENTS: Current residents.
REMAINS: Many tanks.

It could be said the story of Comyn is from oil to peanuts. Settlers first came to the area in the 1870s. A trading post was established by a W.M. Catheney and was the first store in what was then called Theney. That name lasted until 1881 when the Texas Central Railway built a track siding and station in the town. The railroad named its station after one of its officials, a M.T. Comyn. Thereafter, the town was known as Comyn. The West Texas oil boom of 1917 put Comyn in the right place at the right time. The Humble Pipe Line Company constructed a pipeline in 1917-1918 to connect Comyn with its terminal near Houston. It also constructed a large tank farm at Comyn to hold petroleum until it could be pumped to Houston. In 1924, Humble returned to Comyn to build a pipeline westward after the discovery of a large oil field in the Permian Basin. This required even more storage tanks to be built at Comyn. The oil reserves in the West Texas field began to decline later in this century and so did the population in Comyn forcing the school to close in 1952 due to the dwindling number of students. Humble reduced its tank farm to a skeleton operation. Most of the tanks are now empty but some have been converted into peanut storage. There is not a single store in the town. Comyn is located on Farm to Market Road 1496 about five miles east of De Leon in Comanche County. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

It could be said the story of Comyn is from oil to peanuts. Settlers first came to the area in the 1870s. A trading post was established by a W.M. Catheney and was the first store in what was then called Theney. That name lasted until 1881 when the Texas Central Railway built a track siding and station in the town. The railroad named its station after one of its officials, a M.T. Comyn. Thereafter, the town was known as Comyn. The West Texas oil boom of 1917 put Comyn in the right place at the right time. The Humble Pipe Line Company constructed a pipeline in 1917-1918 to connect Comyn with its terminal near Houston. It also constructed a large tank farm at Comyn to hold petroleum until it could be pumped to Houston. In 1924, Humble returned to Comyn to build a pipeline westward after the discovery of a large oil field in the Permian Basin. This required even more storage tanks to be built at Comyn. The oil reserves in the West Texas field began to decline later in this century and so did the population in Comyn forcing the school to close in 1952 due to the dwindling number of students. Humble reduced its tank farm to a skeleton operation. Most of the tanks are now empty but some have been converted into peanut storage. There is not a single store in the town. Comyn is located on Farm to Market Road 1496 about five miles east of De Leon in Comanche County. SUBMITTED BY: Henry Chenoweth

BACK