Ben Ficklin, Texas

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Ben Ficklin was located five miles south of Fort Concho on the east bank of the South Concho River.

History

Ben Ficklin was seat of Tom Green County from 1875 to 1882. Ben Ficklin's first courthouse was donated by Taylor and Sheriff James Spears. An adobe building housed a subscription school, and lots were donated for future church buildings. Three stores and a hotel were soon erected. Around 600 people were living in Ben Ficklin in 1879. A two-story stone courthouse was completed in February 1882.

Heavy rains the night of August 23, 1882, swelled Dove Creek, Spring Creek, the Middle Concho, and the South Concho, already high because of a wet summer, out of their banks. Their combined waters roared down on Ben Ficklin at midmorning on August 24, and the town was destroyed. On the flat, only the courthouse, the jail, and two houses remained standing. Up the hill, fifteen houses and the schoolhouse remained. Sixty-five people were drowned. County offices and the post office were moved to San Angela, which became the county seat in 1883 with the new name San Angelo. ... The Ben Ficklin cemetery, on a hill overlooking new residences, holds the graves of flood victims.