Editing Pecos, Texas (section)

==History==
[[Image:Pecos texas.jpg|thumb|left|Signpost in Pecos]]
[[Image:Pecos texas watertower.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Water tower and the Santa Rosa church in Pecos, Texas]]
Pecos is one of the numerous towns in West Texas organized around a [[train depot]] during the construction of the [[Texas and Pacific Railway]]. These towns were subsequently linked by the construction of [[U.S. Route 80 in Texas|U.S. Highway 80]] and [[Interstate 20 in Texas|Interstate 20]]. Prior to the arrival of the railroad, a permanent camp existed nearby where [[cattle drives]] crossed the [[Pecos River]]. With the introduction of [[irrigation]] from underground [[aquifers]], the city became a center of commerce for extensive local [[agricultural]] production of [[cotton]], [[onion]]s, and [[cantaloupes]]. The introduction of large-scale [[sulfur]] mining in adjacent [[Culberson County, Texas|Culberson County]] during the 1960s led to significant economic and population growth.<ref>{{Handbook of Texas|id=dks04|name=SULFUR INDUSTRY}}</ref> The growth was reversed after mining operations ceased in the 1990s.

In 1962, Pecos resident and tycoon [[Billie Sol Estes]] was indicted for fraud by a federal [[grand jury]]. Estes' extensive machinations caused a national-level scandal, resulting in a shakeup at the [[United States Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]]. [[Oscar Griffin, Jr.]], of the'' Pecos Independent and Enterprise'' newspaper won a [[1963 Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer Prize]] for breaking the story.

Pecos is the site of the largest private prison in the world, the [[Reeves County Detention Complex]], operated by the [[GEO Group]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fwweekly.com/2010/03/10/private-prisons-public-pain/|title=Private Prisons, Public Pain|date=10 March 2010|work=fwweekly.com|access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref>

On December 18th 2024, a [[Union Pacific Railroad]] freight train hit a semi-truck that was hauling an oversized load, with all locomotives and some freight cars derailing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/union-pacific-train-derails-after-hitting-tractor-trailer-on-texas-railroad-tracks-killing-two-video|title=Texas train derails after hitting tractor-trailer, barreling into city building: video|date=December 19, 2024|access-date=December 21, 2024}}</ref> Both crew members were killed and three people on the ground were injured. The former Texas & Pacific train depot, occupied by the town's Chamber of Commerce, was damaged during the derailment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/freight-train-west-texas-derailment-6fa91d994c56c4245ae73c90ef49950c|title=2 killed, 3 injured when freight train derails in small West Texas city after collision|date=December 19, 2024|access-date=December 21, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newswest9.com/article/news/local/as-seen-on-tv/two-men-dead-pecos-train-derailment-union-pacific/513-70e485b6-af46-4b0d-a683-3c59c54242b0|title=2 Union Pacific workers confirmed dead in train derailment in Pecos, Texas|date=December 19, 2024|access-date=December 21, 2024}}</ref>