Editing Big Lake, Texas (section)

==Description==
Big Lake is situated atop the divide between the [[Rio Grande]] and [[Colorado River (Texas)|Colorado River]] watersheds. The city takes its name from a [[dry lake]], a unique dryland plains geographic feature located approximately two miles south of the city, through which [[Texas State Highway 137|St Hwy 137]] passes.  The dry lake, with no outlet, is more than two [[Section (United States land surveying)|sections]] in size, making it the largest in Texas; it impounds water temporarily after high-runoff rain events, being used for grazing the remainder of the time. Though seasonal and temporal, the "big playa lake", in wet periods, is significant in a semiarid, drought-frequented environment and has been utilized regularly as a food and water resource by man and animal, alike, since prehistoric times.

Started as a small ranching community in the late 1880s, Big Lake owes its original existence to the [[Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway]], which passed through the area in 1912, as it was extended from Sherwood, west of [[San Angelo, Texas|San Angelo]], to Girvin and beyond the [[Pecos River]]. The growth from the railroad, coupled with that from the Santa Rita discovery well in 1923, allowed it, in 1925, to take over the position of county seat from [[Stiles, Texas|Stiles]], a pioneer ranching community established in 1894 on Centrailia Draw, about 20 miles to the north. The main highway through the area, [[U.S. Route 67 in Texas|US 67]], was extended through the region in 1934, on the way to its terminus in [[Presidio, Texas|Presidio]]. The city's current existence is based on agriculture (some farming, but mostly ranching) and oil and gas service and production throughout the area.