Plumber in Kermit

Kermit at a glance

Kermit is the county seat of Winkler County, with 6,267 people at the 2020 census. It's named after Kermit Roosevelt, who hunted pronghorn at a ranch in the county shortly before the town was named.

What that means for your plumbing

Kermit's history shows flooding was once a problem because the ground is so flat, and the city built crowned streets to deal with it. Flat ground means slow drainage around homes after heavy rain, which can push water toward slabs and into older sewer lines. Keep gutters and downspouts carrying water away, and see sewer lines if drains back up after storms.

Homes from the boom years

Most of Kermit's neighborhoods went up during the 1940s and 1950s oil booms, when housing was so scarce some people lived in tents. Many houses from those decades still have their original drain pipe, now 70 years old or more.

Drought, then oil

Kermit began as a supply center for ranches and became the county seat in 1910. A 1916 drought drove most settlers away, and by 1926 only three houses and the courthouse were in use. Then, on July 16, 1926, oil was found in the Hendrick field, and the town boomed. It incorporated in 1938 and passed 10,000 people by 1960. In 1966 the town moved the last working wooden derrick in the Permian Basin to Pioneer Park as a reminder of where it came from. If your home dates from the boom, a camera inspection of the sewer line is worth doing before a remodel; see drain cleaning and camera checks.