Imperial (Texas)

Imperial is a place in Pecos County in the U.S. state of Texas.

Geography

Imperial is located in west-central Texas, 48 kilometers northeast of Fort Stockton and about 6 kilometers south of the Pecos River at the intersection of Farm Roads 11 and 1053.

History

The first settlers arrived shortly after 1900 in the area of the later town Imperial. First was in 1908 resulting settlement Redlands, 1910, it was renamed Imperial to make it appear attractive place for the settlers, building on the Imperial Valley, a post office and a school were built. In 1911, the future place on the premises, the Benjamin E. Bush was publicly advertised. To move settlers to settle, a dam on the Pecos River was built to create a reservoir 13 km west of the town, from there an irrigation canal was built to Imperial, to secure the water supply of the town and the farms. Purchasers of parcels of land acquired at the same time water rights to the land.

However, the site grew slowly because of the high salt content of the water and declining water resources made ​​the operation of farms financially unattractive. 1925 lived only 25 people in Imperial. The population grew slowly but steadily, to 250 inhabitants in 1949 and almost 1,000 in the late 1960s. Since then, the population will decrease, it was 1990 720, 2000 428 and 2010 278 still