Editing Electra, Texas (section)

== History ==
[[File:P. F. Co.'s 55, 000 Oil Tank struck by lightning Aug. 5, 1912, Electra, Texas (7489933702).jpg|thumb|left|55, 000 bbl Oil Tank struck by lightning. Aug. 5, 1912, Electra, Texas]]
[[Daniel Waggoner]] started a ranch in present-day Electra in 1852. Around 30 years later, the [[Fort Worth and Denver Railway]] was built, and its railroad tracks ran through the area. In 1885, Waggoner's son, [[William Thomas Waggoner]], successfully lobbied railroad executives to build a railroad station at the site. By this time, the Waggoner ranch covered a half-million acres. Until this time, the town was called Waggoner, but following the building of the station and a post office in 1889, it was dubbed Beaver Switch, after the nearby Beaver Creek. The opening of {{convert|56000|acre|km2}} of land north of the railroad station brought more farmers to the area. The town was renamed again in 1907, this time after Waggoner's daughter, Electra Waggoner.

Water can be scarce in this region of Texas, so Waggoner started drilling for water for the town's new residents. Most of these drilling sites were befouled by crude oil, which made the water unfit for drinking. Three years later, a developer from Fort Worth named Solomon Williams bought the land from Waggoner. Soon thereafter, he annexed nearby land, subdivided the land, and placed advertisements in national media trying to increase the population. His efforts were successful, and the town grew from a population of 500 to 1,000 between 1907 and 1910. The Waggoner family still owns much of the same land they did in the beginning and still drills for oil there.

In 1911, the [[Electra Independent School District]] was created.

On 1 April 1911, the Clayco Oil [[blowout (well drilling)|gusher]] brought in an oil strike at a depth of {{convert|1600|ft|m}}, producing 260 [[Barrel (unit)|barrels]] of oil per day (BOPD). Word spread quickly, and the population increased to over 1,000, with many more oil workers commuting from Wichita Falls.  The town soon had brick buildings, cement sidewalks, and a telephone exchange.<ref name=oo>{{cite book |last1=Olien |first1=Diana |last2=Olien |first2=Roger |title=Oil in Texas, The Gusher Age, 1895-1945|language=en|date=2002|publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=0292760566 |pages=78}}</ref>

In 1936, Electra had well over 6,000 residents, but by the 1960s, the population had decreased to just over 5,000. The [[Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex]] was growing, and many people moved away. By 2000, Electra's population had fallen to about 3,000.