All the remains of Tampico is an Ozark Trail obelisk, located at the end of a spur -- a dirt road -- off of TX 86, about 9.5 miles northeast of Turkey and 21.6 miles southwest of Estelline. About thirty feet tall, the obelisk simply says "Hall County, Texas TAMPICO" on the north and south faces. Destinations ahead are listed on both the west and east faces. In this case, Turkey was to be the next stop if heading west, and Parnell the next stop if heading east.
Check the road conditions before driving down this way. It could be some time before a wrecker could even get to you. If anything, listen to the wind blow out here on the prairie, imagining what it was like to be a rancher in the days of the Old West.
A 2006 Texas Historical Marker here provides not only some background about Tampico's origins, but also why this obelisk stands here, all that is left of the community:
In 1913, William Hope "Coin" Harvey, who operated a resort in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, founded the Ozark Trail Association as a private highway organization. Several Texas and New Mexico counties joined the effort, and the line went diagonally from St. Louis, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. As part of Harvey's plan, stops along the way featured white obelisks denoting, in the official Ozark Trail green lettering, town names, as well as directions and distances to other towns.
The central Ozark route passed across Wellington, Texas, and a second southern route was built through the communities of Childress, Estelline, Tampico, Turkey, Quitaque, Silverton, Tulia, Nazareth and Dimmitt. J.E. Swepston of Tulia, elected Ozark Trail Association president in 1920, was instrumental in having the striking road markers placed in this area. At the time, Hall County had more than 1,000 farms and ranches, and ranchland continued to be divided into farms as more settlers arrived in the area. In 1924, however, with a government initiative to enact a national road-numbering system, the Ozark Trails and other private highways were abandoned or absorbed into the national road system.
Adjacent to the Tampico marker was a service station and general store. In 1929, the Tampico oilfield started a short-lived boom in the community, which supported a school. After the oil supply proved minimal, the school consolidated into the Turkey school district. The obelisk, designated a State Archeological Landmark in 1999, remains as a tie to both the early efforts to increase automotive travel and to the community of Tampico.
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The Handbook of Texas Online provides some complementary information: (
visit link)
Tampico was on the Fort Worth and Denver line between Turkey and Parnell in southwestern Hall County. It was the site of a wildcat oil well drilled in 1929 and named by its optimistic operators for an oilfield in Tampico, Mexico. By 1933 the community reported twenty-five residents and one business. The population of Tampico had dwindled to only twelve by 1965, after which no further population statistics were available.