BIG BEND COUNTRY: MONAHANS TEXAS

MONAHANS TEXAS

Map of Monahans & Monahans Sandhills State Park Area & Additional Monahans Information

Monahans Sandhills State Park Like many towns in West Texas, Monahans got its start back in 1881 as a water stop for the Texas & Pacific Railroad. Monahans is named after John Thomas Monahans, a Texas & Pacific surveyor who found water, a very valuable commodity, beneath the arid surface of what is now Monahans.

A few decades after water was discovered under Monahans, oil was discovered. Modern day Monahans serves as an oil and cattle financial center for an area of more than 800 square miles.

Oil wells, drilled outside of the downtown area, are drilled at a slant to get at the oil under Monahan's city hall, banks and courthouse.

At last count Monahan had a population of 6,821. Monahans serves as the county seat of Ward County. A small part of Monahans stretches into Winkler County.

I Monahans' Million Barrel Tank n 1928 oil was gushing in Monahan in such volumes that Shell Oil built the Million Barrel Oil Tank, working around the clock to get it built in 90 days. The tank was a 522 x 425 foot hole in ground that soon after completion began to leak. The oil tank was abandoned when pipelines were developed to move the oil. In 1987 the oil tank was converted into the Million Barrel Museum with several building in the complex, including the area's first county jail, a 5,000 seat covered amphitheater and the Holman Hotel.

Less than 5 miles east of Monahans is Monahans Sandhills State Park. Monahans Sandhils State Park has sand dunes as high as 70 feet. The park covers 3,840 acres and includes one of America's largest oak forests. The oak trees aren't your standard tall oak, they are Harvard Oaks, seldom growing taller than 3 feet high. Roots penetrate as deep as 90 feet.

Sandsurfing is a popular activity on the Monahans Sandhills. You can rent a sandsurfing disk at the Park's Headquarters. Sand football and sand tobogganing are also popular Sandhills activities.

Monahans Sandhills State Park has RV Hookups, camping sites and a picnic area

WHERE TO STAY IN MONAHANS

You will find Best Western, Comfort Inn and the locally owned and operated Texan Inn, Silver Spur Motel and Sandhills Motel.

WHERE TO EAT IN MONAHANS

You will find national franchises like Dairy Queen, McDonalds, Sonic Drive-In, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. And locally owned and operated restaurants like the Chowdown Buffet, Emma's Kitchen, where you'll find good burritos, Fred's BBQ, Pappy's BBQ, Leal's Restaurant for Tex-Mex, Vicky's Taco House, K Bob's Steak House, Bar-H Steakhouse, The Big Burger, Super Burg Er, Spotlight Restaurant and Great Wall Buffet.

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