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- Tuco Power
Plant
- The Tuco Power Plant was
located north of Abernathy about a half mile east of 1-27 on
FM 54. This facility was completed in 1930, and was enlarged
in 1940 and again in 1949. Its payroll for many years gave a
great boost to the community, and its taxable payments to the
Abernathy School system were life saving during the strenuous
years of the past.
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- In 1916 a St. Louis firm
purchased Plains properties which formed the nucleus of the old
Texas Utilities Company. The company was later known as Southwestern
Public Service with Redi-Kilowatt as its mascot.
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- When Tuco was built in
1930, it incorporated a turbine engine that burned gas. Tuco
construction caused quite a stir over the Plains, Particularly
in the Texas Tech Engineering Department, which adopted the plant
construction as its project.
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- When they tested the first
7500 kilowatt per hour turbine there was not enough electricity
being used in the area to bring the engine up to full power.
The old diesel generators were reversed to take in electricity
instead of sending it out. This still was not enough, so a crew
went out to the edge of the lines and threw trace chains over
the power lines and grounded them to see how much the engines
could take.
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- There were twelve houses
located on FM 54 to the northeast of the plant. Some of the employees
lived there and most of the others lived in Abernathy.
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- Tuco had bright street
lights, running the distance of the housing unit, which were
a landmark to early travelers. The ballpark was the first in
the territory to be lighted. During the 1930's South Plains residents
came from all over for ball games there, often staying until
long past midnight.
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- Behind the houses were
tennis courts, croquet courts, and lots of playing and garden
space between the row of houses and the row of garages.
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- For years Tuco served
as the site of the Southwestern Public Service employee's annual
picnic, being centrally located in the twelve-county area. With
a maximum of forty-five employees during the years, Tuco had
a big day when picnickers arrived and overflowed the grounds.
At that time Tuco showed off its polished interior which time
and again won awards in company competition.
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- With large plants built,
Tuco became more of a switching station, channeling power to
various routes. For the years from 1958 to 1968, its small 37500
KW hour capacity engines were used only during the summer months
for the summer load.
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- The houses at Tuco were
sold and moved in 1968. The large plant was torn down and there
are only power lines and poles where it once stood.
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