Frankel City

The town's second name came from the Frankel Brothers Oil Company when the post office opened in 1948 under postmaster G. W. Blanchard. During the war years companies built camps on the sand hills for about 750 workers and their families, in a drilling field roughly five miles by eight. Skeet Morris served as the community's first and only mayor. As drilling was completed the town declined; its post office closed on March 12, 1976, and by the 1980s Frankel City came down to a cafe, a house, a mobile home and about eleven people.

What the plaque says

Frankel City In 1941 the Fullerton Oil Company of California struck oil near this site, and by 1945 more than 100 drilling rigs were in operation. The discovery brought great numbers of workers into the area, resulting in the establishment of the town of Fullerton. Located approximately one mile north, Fullerton provided newcomers with two churches, two cafes, two filling stations, a grocery store, delicatessen, beauty shop, and Andrews telephone exchange. Buses transported children to and from school in Andrews (16 miles SE). By the end of World War II, the boom town also boasted supply stores, oil field service companies, welding shops, and an electric plant. Fullerton's name was changed to Frankel City when the U.S. post office was established in 1948. At one time the post office served as many as 500 area families. By 1976, however, most of the oil had been taken from the ground, and workers in the field were laid off or transferred to other jobs. The town was abandoned as the post office and other businesses closed. The old Prairie Schooner Cafe, moved to this site from its original location, is all that is left of Frankel City. The ghost town, however, remains an important part of West Texas history. (1984)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Whalen Lake School — 2.0 mi
• Andrews County — 2.0 mi
• Shafter Lake Townsite — 6.1 mi
• Andrews County Discovery Well — 7.0 mi