Former Tom Green County Seat, 1875-1882

Tom Green County, Panhandle / West TexasHistorical marker
4 miles S of San Angelo on Hwy 277

The Town Ben Ficklin
In 1868 Major Benjamin F. Ficklin bought 640 acres around a spring that supplied Fort Concho with its drinking water. This was about 5 miles South of the fort. As the population of the area increased, a growing number of people wanted to distance themselves from the fort and especially the saloons and "businesses" that catered to it. Since it is was common knowledge that it was difficult for drunks to stagger more than 3 miles, the decent element felt they were safe at the springs. It is reported that the place was so tough that the officers of the fort would confine themselves to indoor activities like board games and letter writing, rather than risk an after-dark confrontation with the enlisted men.

The town throve as a stop on the San Antonio to El Paso Mail Route. Major Ficklin died (in the freak dining mishap previously mentioned) in 1871 and left his interests to his friend F.C. Taylor. Taylor moved the stage stop a mile away and filed an application for a post office with the name of his friend and benefactor Ben Ficklin. It was accepted and Taylor became the first postmaster. The town became the county seat in 1875 and Taylor died four years later.

San Angela (as the town across the river from the fort was then known) thought that they should be the county seat and they voiced their desire. The situation may have turned into one of Texas' many "courthouse wars" but Mother Nature settled the feud. She arranged a flooding of the local creeks and rivers on the night of August 24th 1882. The ground had already been saturated from a rare wet summer and a wave of water hit the unsuspecting town while everyone slept. Most of the town was washed away and 65 citizens - more than 10% of the population - drowned.

With the demise of Ben Ficklin, San Angela applied for a post office and was told that authorities in Washington were appalled at their bad Spanish. The postal authorities would accept Santa Angela or San Angelo, but not San Angela. And so San Angelo came into existence, even though it was named after Carolina Angela, the wife of land developer Bartholomew J. DeWitt.

Ben Ficklin Today
A marker four miles South of San Angelo on Hwy 277 designates the site of the former town. F.C. Taylor and his wife had their caskets washed away in the flood, but both are now resting on higher ground. The former town is now a park and a popular place for picnics and swimming. The park has its own historic marker.

Benjamin F. Ficklin (Class of 1849)