BIG BEND COUNTRY: WINK

WINK

Wink is not a big Texas town. The population at last count was 919. Wink is barely over 1 square mile in size.

Wink began in 1926 after oil was discovered in the Hendrick oil field in Winkler County. The Wink Townsite Company began selling housing lots on a local ranch. Soon, so many new people were arriving in Wink there was a temporary housing shortage. Those days are long gone.

Wink was originally named Winkler, the same as the county it sits in. C.M. Winkler was a colonel in the Confederate Army, a court justice and Texas legislator. Winker had to be shortened to Wink because when Winkler sent in its incorporation papers to Austin they were informed there was already a town named Winkler in Texas.

Wink's economy is still based on oil, with some ranching mixed in and a little tourism. Some tourists come to Wink to visit the Roy Orbison Museum. Visiting that museum is a bit tricky. It is open by appointment only. If you are a super heavy duty Roy Orbison fan you can also visit "The Original Home Site of Roy Orbison.

According to the National Weather Service, Wink is often the hottest spot in Texas and the United States. The temperatures are often above 105 degrees during the summer, with peaks above 110.

Wink is also home to two huge sinkholes. Wink residents woke uo on June 3, 1980 to find a 370-foot-wide hole had formed 2 1/2 miles north of town near TX Hwy 115 and near the Shell Tank Farms.

Geologists suspect the Sinkhole, also known as the Wink Sink, formed as a result of oil production practices in the Permian Basin that pumped saltwater from below the surface, leaving a void beneath.

No one knows for sure what caused this or how deep the Wink Sinkhole is. A diving team, years ago, failed to find a bottom.

The second Sinkhole sank May 21, 2002, almost 22 years to the day of the first Sinkhole and is about 1 mile from Sinkhole #1 and is substantially larger. That is Sinkhole #2 in the picture. When the second Sinkhole opened up, the first one, which had stabilized in size, began growing again. Geologists are currently watching another Wink depression which they say will someday be a 3rd Wink Sinkhole.

Below is a YouTube video where some brave explorers venture to Wink to check out the Wink Sinkhole and the Roy Orbison Museum.

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