Editing Crane, Texas (section)

==History==
While the post office dates from 1908, the discovery of oil in 1926 in the [[Permian Basin (North America)|Permian Basin]] brought in enough fortune-seekers to populate a town. Streets are named for the children of O.C. Kinnison, the realtor who drew up the town map. By 1930, Crane was a full-fledged boomtown, with churches and private businesses operating next to the more nefarious elements of frontier life.  As in other oil boomtowns, development of services lagged behind temporary dwellings for the workers, although paved roads and other basic infrastructure were added following incorporation in the early 1930s.

Peak population as reported by the U.S. Census was in 1960 at 3,796, and it has declined slightly since, although the town remains the center for serving the oil fields in Crane County.<ref>{{cite web
  | title = Crane, Texas
  | work = Handbook of Texas Online
  | url = https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hgc17
  | access-date = 2009-12-23 }}</ref>

The Museum of the Desert Southwest, the area's museum of local history, is operated by the Crane County Historical Commission.<ref>{{cite web|title=Official site|url=http://www.cranehistory.org|publisher=Crane County Historical Commission|access-date=14 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216222343/http://cranehistory.org/|archive-date=16 December 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>