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Kermit, Texas is a city in Winkler County with the claim of being “the only town in Texas to be named after one of Theodore Roosevelt’s Sons.” Roosevelt was extremely popular in the west, so it was only fitting the town name itself after his son when they had visited the area for a hunting trip. The town was first organized in 1910 and it started gaining its first residents, but in 1916 most of the newly-settled families fled the area, seeking relief from a sweltering drought. By 1924 only one inhabitant, the Baird family, remained in the town.

In 1926, when the local towns of Wink and Notrees saw a population boom, so did Kermit— primarily because oil was discovered in the area. The city’s population went from one family to over one-thousand people seemingly overnight. By 1929 the population increased by another five hundred when the Texas-New Mexico Railroad set up railways in the area.

The population growth did decline slightly while families struggled through the Great Depression; however, its prolific oil industry kept the city afloat, drawing in commerce to the area, and kept the local economy fairly stable. The population rose again at the end of the 30s.

Kermit leaders voted to incorporate as a city in 1938. During the 1940s Kermit real estate prices doubled due to the oil boom, and by 1945 the first bank was opened.  By the 1960s the population reached over the 10,000 mark. Currently the city’s population is over 15,000 strong. Kermit continues to improve the services offered to residents and build more housing to accommodate a growing population.