The town's name "Sweetwater" is the English translation of the Kiowa language word "Mobeetie".[6]
Sweetwater received a U.S. post office in 1879. The Texas and Pacific Railway started service in 1881, with the first train arriving on March 12 of that year, beginning Sweetwater's long history as a railroad town. To encourage the railroads, Sweetwater increased its water supply by building a small town lake called City Lake in 1898 (now called Newman Park), then three larger lakes were constructed thereafter. Construction began on the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway in 1903. By 1912 the Santa Fe Railway was serving Sweetwater via its new Coleman Cutoff[7] and completing a connection with the T&P nearby at "Tecific" junction. Businesses and homes were built along the rail lines. Texas and Pacific Railway passenger service was discontinued in 1969.[8]
Gulf Refinery operated from 1929 to 1954, and at one time the town was a large telegraph center. The International Harvester Company operated a factory on W. Third Street in Sweetwater from 1920 to 1950. Gypsum plants, apparel manufacturers, cement plants, cotton compresses, a cottonseed oil mill, and packing companies were among the nearly 250 businesses operating there from the 1970s. Many still operate today. Sweetwater remains a production hub for such commodities as cotton, oil, and cattle. The population of Sweetwater has remained steady between 11,000 and 13,000 since 1940.[9]
At Sweetwater during World War II, one class of British RAF pilots was trained before the airfield was converted for training American women pilots. The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) were trained under the direction of famed aviatorJacqueline Cochran at Sweetwater's Avenger Field. These WASPs were the first women to fly American military aircraft. The military airstrip was closed at the end of the war.[10][11]
Pilots flying over Sweetwater can still land at Avenger Field – the Sweetwater Airport (SWW). The National WASP WWII Museum is located at Avenger Field.[12] The WASP women were not recognized for having served in the armed forces until 1977, after U.S. SenatorBarry M. Goldwater of Arizona and Colonel Bruce Arnold, late son of GeneralHap Arnold, gained their official recognition as military veterans. In 1970, the field was developed for Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater.[13]
Sweetwater also has a Pioneer Museum, with display rooms depicting the lives of early settlers. It has extensive photograph files, farm and ranch exhibits, Indian artifacts, and WASP exhibits.[14]
The local newspaper, Sweetwater Reporter, was founded in 1911. The newspaper, first established in 1881, was called the Sweetwater Advance. It was later published as the Nolan County Review, and became the Daily Reporter in 1911.[15] An historic, early 20th-century, stage theater has been renovated and is in full use. The Municipal Auditorium, where Elvis Presley performed twice in 1955, continues to feature live acts. Sweetwater's Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital was founded in 1976.[16]
Sports include access to a large public swimming pool and an 18-hole golf course (opened 1958).[17] Public fishing and recreational facilities are located at Lake Sweetwater.[18]
First Baptist Church had one of the earliest congregations in Sweetwater, and it continues to thrive.[19]
Parts of the south side of Sweetwater were devastated by an estimated EF3 tornado that swept through town early in the morning of April 19, 1986.[20]
Wind turbine near Sweetwater, Texas
Sweetwater is the center of the leading wind power generation region of the Western Hemisphere. It is sometimes called the "Wind Turbine Capital of Texas". The largest wind farm in Texas is Roscoe Wind Farm.[21] In 2009 about 1,330 direct wind-related jobs were created in Nolan County alone, where the industry generated almost $18,000,000 in annual landowner royalties and over $12,000,000 in annual local school taxes (2007).[22]
Special events include the world's largest rattlesnake round-up, held annually since 1958 by the Sweetwater Jaycees on the second weekend in March.[23] It is held along with a gun and coin show hosted by the Sweetwater Rifle and Pistol Club, which was founded in the 1940s.[24]
Sweetwater is the center of the Western Hemisphere's leading wind power generation region and West Texas has more than 4,000 megawatts of operational wind energy. Nolan County alone would currently rank as the eighth-largest "nation" in terms of wind energy generation - with more than 1,500 MW installed.[27]
Climate
Climate type occurs primarily on the periphery of the true deserts in low-latitude semiarid steppe regions. The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is BSk (tropical and subtropical steppe climate).[28]
As of the 2020 United States census, 10,622 people, 3,752 households, and 2,464 families were residing in the city.
2000 census
As of the census[3] of 2000, 11,415 people, 4,545 households, and 3,017 families resided in the city. The population density was 1,139.4 people/sq mi (439.9/km2). The 5,202 housing units averaged 319.2/sq mi (200.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 75.29% White, 5.83% African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 15.71% from other races, and 2.21% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 31.70% of the population.
In the city, the population was distributed as 28.1% under 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $24,293, and for a family was $29,953. Males had a median income of $27,722 versus $18,064 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,065. About 20.5% of families and 23.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.5% of those under age 18 and 22.0% of those age 65 or over.
Education
The City of Sweetwater is served by the Sweetwater Independent School District, which includes J.P.Cowen Early Childhood Center, East Ridge Elementary, Southeast Elementary, Sweetwater Intermediate School, Sweetwater Middle School, and Sweetwater High School. For more information about Sweetwater ISD, visit the official SISD website.
Sammy Baugh, Hall of Fame NFL and TCU football player, was born in Temple. He went to school at Newman High School and played for the Sweetwater Mustang football team.[35]
Frank Hamer, a Texas Ranger who, along with his brother Gus, had a pistol fight on October 1, 1917, in Sweetwater with Gee McMeans, in which the former Ranger and sheriff of Ector County, Texas, was killed.[37]
John Layfield, retired professional wrestler, is best known for wrestling as "Bradshaw" or "JBL" with the WWE. Layfield was a guest panelist on Fox News Channel's The Cost of Freedom, and is also employed by Northeast Securities as its senior vice president.[38]
Bobby Witcher, an amateur herpetologist best known for his charismatic personality and carefree handling of venomous snakes, was born in Sweetwater in 1916.
Charlie Daniels wrote and sang the fictional 1976 song Sweetwater, Texas about growing up there, wanting to leave, and returning later in life, on the Saddle Tramp album.
In the Harry Potter spinoff book Quidditch through the Ages, Sweetwater fields a professional Quidditch team called the All-Stars.
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Lorraine Zillner Rodgers was a Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) pilot for the United States Army Air Forces.
The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became trained pilots who tested aircraft, ferried aircraft, and trained other pilots. Their purpose was to free male pilots for combat roles during World War II. Despite various members of the armed forces being involved in the creation of the program, the WASP and its members had no military standing.
Avenger Field is a Texas airport in Nolan County, three miles west of Sweetwater. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a general aviation facility.
The Women's Flying Training Detachment was a group of women pilots during World War II. Their main job was to take over male pilot's jobs, such as ferrying planes from factories to United States Army Air Force installations, in order to free male pilots to fight overseas. They later merged with the Women Airforce Ferrying Squadron to form the Women Airforce Service Pilots.
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Elaine D. Harmon was an American from Maryland who served in the U.S. Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. In 2009 she received a Congressional Gold Medal for her service as a pilot during World War II. As a WASP pilot, she has been accorded full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. In 2016, Ms. Harmon was posthumously inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.
Elizabeth Maxine Chambers was one of the first female pilots in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program in which women took on non-combat flying duties so more male pilots were available for combat. She was in WASP Class of 44-W-3 as part of the 318th Army Air Forces Flying Training Detachment. She became a pilot shortly after her husband lost his life while flying, despite the fact that she had a new baby, and was the only recent widow and mother to have served as a WASP.
Dorothy Swain Lewis was an American aviator who trained Navy pilots and flew with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program during World War II. She was also an artist who created a series of cast-bronze sculptures of WASP pilots for various World War II memorial sites.
Hazel Jane Raines was an American pioneer aviator and flight instructor with the Civilian Pilot Training Program. During World War II, she was part of the first group of United States women to fly military aircraft, which they did in a war zone for the civilian British Air Transport Auxiliary. She was later a member of the civilian contract labor Women Airforce Service Pilots. After the war, she taught instrument training in Brazil. When President Harry S. Truman authorized the integration of women into the military, she served with Women in the Air Force and was based in Texas, Alabama, and finally London until her death. Raines was the first woman in Georgia to earn a pilot's license, and has been inducted into both the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame and the Georgia Women of Achievement.
Dorothy Eleanor Olsen was an American aircraft pilot and member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) during World War II. She grew up on her family's farm in Woodburn, Oregon, developing an interest in aviation at a young age. She earned her private pilot's license in 1939, when it was unusual for women to be pilots.
Gwendolyne Elizabeth Cowart was an American pilot who served as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) during World War II.
Mabel Virginia Rawlinson served with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II as one of 1,102 women to earn Silver Wings. When she died in an airplane crash during advanced night training, she became one of the 38 women who died while serving with the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).
Marion Stegeman Hodgson (1921-2016) was one of the first women to train as a military pilot in the United States. Her 1996 autobiography Winning My Wings: A Woman Airforce Service Pilot in World War II was praised for its unique insight into the Women Airforce Service Pilots program in World War II. Her post-war work writing for magazines and newspapers helped bring to attention the fact that Women Airforce Service Pilots were never considered veterans of the war. Hodgson has been inducted into aviation halls of fame in Texas and Georgia.
Mildred Inks Davidson Dalrymple (1920–2012) was an American military aviator during World War II as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) and later became a public speaker, recounting her flying adventures on behalf of the U.S. Air Force. The WASP received the Congressional Gold Medal as a group for their service.
Katherine "Kay" Adams Menges Brick was an important American aviator. She served in WWII in the U.S.'s Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). After the war she was active in the Ninety-Nines: International Organization of Women Pilots, serving as Secretary and International President. She also served in other aviation-related boards and associations.
↑ Marina Nemir of Sweetwater, "WASP (Women's Airforce Pilots) and the Avenger Field in Sweetwater", West Texas Historical Association, annual meeting, West Texas A&M University at Canyon, April 5, 2008.
↑ Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.[31][32]
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