I just came across a reference to a Reeves County town of Dixieland Texas in a 1920 recorded deed from my great grandfather. I can’t find anything on the place. Does anyone know of or have heard of Dixieland Texas in Reeves County?
Google “Dixieland, Texas” and you will find some references to ghost towns of Texas and a few other links.
Thanks. Are you aware if there are any remains of ghost towns in Reeves county?
http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Texas-Ghost-Towns-4-West-Texas.htm Here is the link I found. http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasGhostTowns/DixielandTexas/DixielandTexas.htm
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I am not aware of towns named Dixieland. However, Dixieland seems an important historic name. I think a Chicago promoter named Ira Bell or his family first promoted a Dixieland syndicate for irrigated farmland along the Pecos River NW of Pecos. Bell promoted many ventures, mostly unsuccessful. Apparently, he converted his failed irrigation project to oil field promotion, Ira Bell hit a famous gusher in 1920, the “Bell Well” started the Pecos Valley oil boom of 1920. Bell raised money using the name Dixieland Syndicate, but failed to repeat his 1920 gusher. A wide swath of area just NW of the “Y” crossroads of US Highway 285 and TX 302 was known as the Dixieland oilfield in the years after WW2. When the railroad ran parallel to Pecos River, and after the 1920 oil boom, I think various towns sprang up along the railroad, changed named, and vanished.
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Thanks. That’s helpful. I have a deed showing my grandfather bought 4 lots in Dixeyland in 1920 from my great grandpa. I’d like to know the history of those lots and if they belong to us today. Any thoughts about how to do this?
- What section is your four lots located in? I’m guessing Block 2 of H&GN RR Survey? This is the location of the old Dixieland oil field.
- What size are your lots? Dixieland Syndicate sold lots as small as 1/10 acre, believe it or not.
- You need to search TexasFile for your grandfather’s purchase deed. Easily done. You can easily search your grandfather’s name also.
- Promoter Ira Bell platted his Dixieland Syndicate in late 1918 and marketed lots from 1920-1930. Who did your great grandfather buy lots from?
- Probably you can look at a century-old plat map at Reeves County courthouse, if you live in the area, must view plats in person because they’re not digitized.
- Where did your great grandfather live? Bell sold lots in Chicago and Illinois, as if they were lottery tickets.
Thanks for the insight on the land sales. My great grandpa bought 20 acres in block 2 in 1910 I believe. I don’t have the deed or purchase agreement. I do have the deed where he sold the 20 acres and 4 lots to my grandpa and 2 partners. That was 1920. He lived in St Charles MO outside of St Louis. I am not sure the online records go back to 1910. Any ideas and thanks for your help.
Tried to reply previously, moderator blocked my reply for unknown reason. Will try to recollect my reply …
The promoter who sold massive amounts of land in the Dixieland oilfield a century ago probably sold some to residents of St. Charles MO and St Louis, Bell sold syndicate shares mostly in Illinois.
Your family’s land was Block 2 of H&GN RR Survey? What Section?
Your great grandfather bought 20 acres in 1910, probably second owner. State originally patented some of that land (+/-) 1908.
20 acres H&GN RR Svy is worth a fortune today. If your family still owns interest, landmen will have rung your phone off the hook.
Did you search Texas File website for your grandfather’s name? If grandpa sold his land, the deed should pop up. That public website goes back to 1912. You know 3 names from your grandpa’s purchase deed, search them all.
You can also search county tax records, property search for names, website is Reeves CAD (Reeves County Appraisal District). I have downloaded the entire Reeves County Excel spreadsheet of surface and minerals taxpayers, sorted by my section, to see who owns property in my section.
Searching for your family name in Reeves County land records is pretty easy. Reeves County courthouse always has a dozen-plus landmen looking through the records, nice men & women, perhaps you can make contact with some of them.
Thanks for pulling together all the history. I will look for all my information on block 2. There are some other owners here that inherited small fractions. I do have a deed where the Dixieland pieces and the 20 acres were sold to my grandpa for $600. I need to learn more.
Your great grandfather scored a bargain. My great grandfather paid $20,000 for 40 acres ($500 per acre) in Block 2 H&GN RR survey, year 1920, height of Pecos Valley oil boom. “Bell Well” gusher erupted in Section 20 on February 21, 1920, and the boom was on. Crowds from Pecos and a Hollywood film crew gathered at the Bell Well when Bell drilled to deeper level, but Bell’s luck ran dry. In 2019, however, this stretch is among the hottest oil properties in the country.
Roy, here’s the legal description for our property. AB 362 BLK 2 SEC 1 /H&GN RR CO SUR I think Dixieland was nearby. The deed says he bought 4lots there and I don’t know how to track down where it is.
I see your location is Section 1 Block 2 H&GN RR Survey (location, not legal description). Anadarko is drilling that section, with some recent 2018 permits. Your section lies against the river. Maybe that whole area was called Dixieland, an old highway map in the Texas General Land Office online map store shows the “Dixieland Oil Field” was 1-2 miles SW along US Highway 285.
Your grandpa’s deed should show a legal description of the actual lots or tract location within Section 1 Block 2 H&GN RR Svy. Have you searched Texas File for your grandpa’s name and his two partners named in that deed, to see if they sold or conveyed or leased the property?
That is how I would start. You knew he owned it (something) in 1920, his name would show up as “grantor” in Texas File if he conveyed the property in any manner.
Going away for long weekend, good luck
Thanks for the insight and direction. So far the deed mentions lots on block. I will need to search the records to see if anyone sold the lots or what happened to them. Eventually there will be 4 wells on the property and hopefully producing. Have a good long weekend.
This is fascinating. My brother and I own 50 acres in this block that my great uncle bought in 1912, and he was from ST Louis. It’s been passed down the family in a straight line from my grandmother to us. I always thought my great uncle bought the land for railroad easements, but it may in fact be because of the oil field plays back then. It only took just over 100 years to pan out … though that may be over with recent news.
The whole area is once again known as “Dixieland oil field” in 2020, Cimarex (aka Resolute) leases at least a dozen sections the company refers to as Dixieland … Highway 285 passes thru the middle a few miles NW of the “Y” crossroads.
Don’t know if investors speculated in oil properties before WWI, Mr. Bruns’ grandfather paid $30/acre in 1910. Ira Bell marketed land there as Dixieland Syndicate as irrigated farmland.
For sure, oil speculation spiked after WWI, Ira Bell was platting oilfield sections in 1919, plat map errors possibly resulted from the Spanish flu pandemic raging in 1919. My great grandfather & partners paid $500/acre fee simple from Ira Bell, Bell Well gusher occurred February 21, 1920 a stone’s throw from the old Dixieland rail town. I understand trader/speculators operated from card tables lining the Pecos square. For a time, there was a village or town known as “Irabell”, maybe a boom town or maybe Bell renamed Dixieland. The Bell Well was short lived. I think the frenzied speculation maybe migrated east in Texas in the 1920s and later to the California oilfields.
Not surprised Bell sold land/minerals in St. Louis, Bell marketed heavily in Illinois train stations, Chicago & Springfield et al, apparently operated kiosks or offices in train depots.
James as a kid in the 1945-50 I use to quail hunt on a ranch called Dixieland which was north of Mentone Texas, on the west side of the Pecos river in Reeves County. As this was only yesterday my memory is not as clear as it should be. I think the ranch belonged to a person named Anderson, I do recall a dirt trail with a funny name as I could never figure out how it got it name I think it was called Cattle Lane Blvd or something like that. At that time it seemed everyone knew where Dixieland was. Charles Stubblefield
The Dixieland name goes back at least to 1905. Dixie Irrigation Co., a Chicago syndicate, formed in 1905 planning to develop the biggest irrigation project in North America, a 125-mile canal and irrigation system from Arno in northern Reeves County, to Horsehead Crossing 70 miles downstream from Pecos. The company once advertised for 1,000 laborers, but failed by 1914. Dixie Irrigation’s first phase was 16,000 acres north of the modern crossroads of U.S. 285 and TX 302. The company advertised 250,000 grape vines, ornamental trees, alfalfa acreage and a “model town” known as Dixieland. The Dixieland railroad hamlet was abandoned when Dixieland Irrigation failed in 1914, apparently due to floods, droughts, and New Mexico farmers diverting Pecos River water upstream.
Ira J. Bell, a Dixie Irrigation partner, formed an oilfield trust in 1919 called Dixieland Syndicate. Bell struck oil in 1920 at a remarkably shallow 658’, triggering a massive boom that attracted capital from throughout the nation from rich and poor alike. Unfortunately, the “Bell Well” (section 20 block 2 H&GN RR) was an isolated trap, and most wildcatters abandoned Reeves County for better oilfields by 1922. The area around the renowned “Bell Well” 21 miles northwest of Pecos is now known as Dixieland oilfield.