Laketon

LAKETON, TEXAS . Laketon, fifteen miles east of Pampa in the ranching area of northeastern Gray County, was named for several local small playas and founded as a switch on the Panhandle and Santa Fe Railway in the early 1900s. A post office was established in 1907 and discontinued in 1910, when mail went through Miami. However, the opening of the Laketon gas field caused the post office to be reestablished in 1929. The settlement became a shipping point after the discovery of oil and gas in the 1920s. By 1930 it had four stores and ten residents. In 1947 it reported two businesses, a school, and a population of fifty. The growth of Pampa as an industrial center, coupled with improved transportation, led to the town's decline. The post office was again closed in 1954. From 1970 to 1990 Laketon reported twelve residents, a store, a church, and a service station. The gas field was still in production in the 1980s.