Rankin, Texas
| Rankin, Texas | |
|---|---|
| City | |
 Location of Rankin, Texas |
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| Coordinates: 31°13′28″N 101°56′27″W / 31.22444°N 101.94083°WCoordinates: 31°13′28″N 101°56′27″W / 31.22444°N 101.94083°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Upton |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.1 sq mi (2.8 km2) |
| • Land | 1.1 sq mi (2.8 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 2,516 ft (767 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 778 |
| • Density | 710/sq mi (280/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 79778 |
| Area code(s) | 432 |
| FIPS code | 48-60668 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1366016 |
Rankin is a city in Upton County, Texas, United States. The population was 778 at the 2010 census.
It is the county seat of the thinly populated county – in 2010, only 3,355 people lived in the entire county, and McCamey was the only larger town. It is named after F.E. Rankin, a local rancher.
Rankin is located at 31°13′28″N 101°56′27″W / 31.22444°N 101.94083°W (31.224412, −101.940866). It is at the junction of U.S. Highway 67 and Texas State Highway 329, known locally as Ranch Road 870.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.7 km²), all of it land.
The town was founded in 1911, and the post office was built a year later. In 1921, still a tiny community based around the ranching industry, it was designated county seat. Rankin was served by the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway.
The discovery of the Yates Oil Field in adjacent Pecos County in 1926 converted Rankin into a boom town. Since Rankin was the nearest settlement on a rail line, it became the center for the oil services industry for the nearby oil fields. During the Great Depression the population declined as the price of oil fell, and as workers moved away to work in newly discovered fields in East Texas and elsewhere; however, a secondary boom occurred in the 1940s with the discovery of the nearby Benedum Oil Field. A hospital, three new schools, and a library date from this period. The population has gradually fallen since its secondary peak of 1,278 in 1980.
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