Sunray, Texas

Worker at carbon black plant in Sunray (photo by John Vachon, 1942)

Sunray, Texas, was founded by Jack Clarence Collins. He was born in Hartley, Texas, in 1893, and in 1902 moved to Channing, Texas, with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. E.S. Collins. Jack graduated from Channing High School and later, in 1916, from Texas A&M, where he was class valedictorian and class president in his senior year. Later, he served for several years as cashier of the First National Bank of Channing while extending his family's ranch holdings. Mr. Collins was well-known and respected in ranching and financial circles, and was a ranking member of the Republican Party for several years.[5][6]

Jack Collins did not call the town "Sunray" when he laid it out in 1930. The first lots were sold at $10 each under the name "Altman", but it was discovered that a town in Rusk County had already appropriated that name, hence, the name "Sunray" was used. A post office was applied for on May 5, 1930, using the name "Altman", but because of the duplication, "Sunray" was not approved until 1935.

The change to the name "Sunray" came because Sunray Oil Company (later Sunoco) set up a gas-oil refinery near the town on 10 acres (40,000 m²) of land originally donated by Mr. Collins to Dana Oil & Gas Royalty Company. Sunray Oil Company bought the holdings of Dana in the early Jones Field in northeast Moore County, which was near the new town. The townsite location was determined by a new Rock Island Railroad route running from Dalhart to Morse along the northern edge of Mr. Collins's townsite survey. At the time, the town was 3 miles (4.8 km) from the Jones Well and 6 miles (9.7 km) from the Morton oil well—both early oil-gas discoveries in Moore County.

On Sunday, 29 July 1956, the nearby industrial plant was the site of a major accident. The McKee refinery fire killed 19 firefighters when a storage tank suffered a vapor explosion.

Sunray is located at 36°1′9″N 101°49′26″W (36.019280, -101.823860).[7]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²), all of it land .

As of the census[3] of 2000, 1,950 people, 688 households, and 531 families resided in the city. The population density was 1,154.0 people per square mile (445.5/km²). The 772 housing units averaged 456.9/sq mi (176.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 72.92% White, 0.72% African American, 0.77% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 23.38% from other races, and 2.05% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 35.59% of the population.

Of the 688 households, 45.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.7% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.8% were not families. About 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.31.

In the city, the population was distributed as 33.8% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,026, and for a family was $36,813. Males had a median income of $31,141 versus $18,077 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,656. About 11.5% of families and 13.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.1% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.

The Valero McKee Refinery is located several miles southwest of Sunray. It processes 200,000 barrels of oil per day and has 475 full-time personnel.[10]

The City of Sunray is served by the Sunray Independent School District and home to the Sunray High School Bobcats.