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Filling
Tank Cars from the Phillips Refinery
1942 photo by John Vaschon, Courtesy
Library of Congress |
Phillips
History in a Pecan ShellRancher
James A. Whittenburg founded the community of Whittenburg
nearby in 1926. Whittenburg acquired a rivalry with Pantex, Texas (which soon
was renamed Phillips for the dominant employer.) The Phillips Petroleum Company
completed the Alamo Refinery in 1927. It was the first of its kind built in the
Panhandle. |
Employees
of the Phillips Refinery getting off work.
1942 photo by John Vaschon, Courtesy
Library of Congress |
The company built
a new $77,000 school in 1936 and also provided housing for teachers and student
scholarships. In 1938 Whittenburg and Pantex became Phillips, Texas
by a vote of the people. Phillips had a population of over 4,000 in 1947 and although
the 1936 high school was destroyed by fire in 1950, it was soon rebuilt.
Many of the businesses in Phillips moved to Borger
in the 50s and 60s, and the population dropped from 3,600 in 1960 to around 2,500
for the 1980 census. A huge explosion in 1980 obliterated both homes and part
of the industrial area.
(According
to the Handbook of Texas, Phillips continued to survive as a community with a
population of 1,624 in 1990. For update information, see below.) |
The
Story of Phillips, TexasThe
Demise of Phillips, Texas
Phillips,
Texas was not destroyed by the explosion in the 80's. The town was wiped out due
to the death of Mr. Whittenburg who owned the land the town sat on. In his will
there a clause stating that the property that the township sat on could not be
sold without the approval by the Citizens of Phillips. The children (the ones
who ran M & M Cattle Company) went to court and had the will changed so that they
could sell the property to Phillips Petroleum. Once the sale was final Phillips
began evicting the Citizens. The citizens fought back by hiring F. Lee Bailey
to fight the eviction. This injunction staved off the eviction about 6 months.
Several homes were moved to a location just south of Electric
City on a the rim of the Canadian River Canyon and others were moved to Stinnett
and Amarillo.
I was
an older teenager when this happened and my Grandparents lived in Phillips at
212 Cook St. Their house now is in Stinnett.
The explosion that occurred was in the unit of the plant call the Cat Cracker.
My Grandfather was a boiler maker on that unit and was one of the persons that
went in and did the body recovery after the explosion. There was damage in the
town. Mostly blownout and cracked windows, but that was it. I can also safely
say if the sale of the property did not happen, Phillips Petroleum would have
gotten the town shutdown for environmental reasons. One being an open sewage system
in the town. Sewer water had run into the Canadian River all the years I can remember.
I truly miss the old town and wish it still existed." - Victor Taylor, October
17, 2009
The
Demise of Phillips, Texas
On your website you state that Phillips, Texas continues to stand as a community.
This is COMPLETELY false. Phillips 66 oil company made everyone move after that
big explosion. There is nothing there but the old high school and the refinery.
The churches were leveled, the homes that were not moved out were leveled. It
was one of the most tragic stories of small town life being overtaken by business.
People lost everything. No one has a hometown to go back to....it's all leveled
and you can't even drive in to look at your old school....armed security guards
come after you. - [Name withheld by request], October 24, 2005
Phillips
and Borger
Dear
TE, Our family was from Borger, Texas,
and my dad's brother, Sydney Wilson Bennett, worked in nearby Phillips at the
refinery. I was born in Borger in 1948 and left for Wyoming in 1953. My aunt "Frankie"
and uncle Wilson would babysit me and my sister at their company home in Phillips.
We spent many, many a happy time there in the early years of our lives.
About 30 years ago, I took my wife to see Borger
and Phillips. We had our first child with us, and we parked our travel trailer
across from my aunt and uncle's house in a friendly neighbor's driveway. I took
my wife on a "tour" of Phillips and Borger
, and we left a few days later, following a tornado. I just did not want to sit
through another Panhandle tornado!
I only learned of the demise of Phillips
today! My aunt and uncle moved away when he retired from Phillips, to relocate
in Bowie. Both are now deceased. I can't imagine Phillips having been leveled.
- Jim Pixley, Corona, California, May 24, 2007
Phillips,
Texas
Phillips was a wonderful place to grow up. Teachers and administrators
instilled in us a unique sense of pride in the fact that we were from Phillips.
Being from Phillips automatically made us winners. What a great way to prepare
students for life! We learned that if we worked hard, we could do almost anything.
Our sports teams were legendary for their accomplishments. Furthermore,
due to the academic leadership of many, many teachers, a large percentage of Phillips
graduates have become doctors, lawyers, engineers, and other professionals.
But most importantly, people who grew up in Phillips genuinely cared for
each other because we shared a common love for the community that was Phillips.
And we understood that Phillips was Phillips because of its people.
I miss it. There will never be another Phillips. Unfortunately, there's no way
to fully understand the loss unless you're a Phillips Blackhawk. - Carrie McFerron,
Class of 1976, February 10, 2006
Thank you for posting the follow-up from the individual setting the record straight
about the town of Phillips, Tx. continuing to exist. The town did not survive
the explosion of January 1980, and the 1987 was the last class to graduate from
there. The town has pretty much been reduced to this website: http://www.phillipsblackhawks.com/
. This is a collection of pictures, commentaries, stories, etc. of those that
attended the school during it's existence. It will give one a small feel for the
kind of town that Phillips was. - Joe (Class of 1984), November 18, 2005
Anyone
wishing to share history or photos of Phillips, Texas, please contact
us. |
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The Phillips Petroleum Company Building built in 1927 still stands in downtown
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
TE Photo, February, 2005 | |
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