Hobbs

The town was nearly called something else. James Isaac Hobbs and his wife Fannie sold their farm in Brown County, Texas, in 1907 and came west for her health, living first in a dugout near today's First and Texas streets. Their son Berry opened a store and, applying for a post office, offered the names Taft and Prairieview; the postal officials wrote in Hobbs instead. When the oil came, the village split into three towns, Hobbs, New Hobbs and All Hobbs, holding about 12,000 people between them before they merged.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Hobbs Population 28,794 - Elevation 3615 ft. Named for the family of James Hobbs which homesteaded here in 1907, Hobbs became first a trading village for ranchers and then a major oil town after the discovery of oil by the Midwest Oil Company in 1928.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Llano Estacado — 0.3 mi
• Hobbs Discovery Well — 4.3 mi
• Myrtle Attaway Farquhar (1900-1972) — 4.4 mi
• Hobbs Army Air Field — 5.5 mi