These WASPs were the first women to fly American military aircraft. The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) were trained under the direction of famed aviator Jacqueline Cochran at Sweetwater's Avenger Field. Īt Sweetwater during World War II, one class of British RAF pilots was trained before the airfield was converted for training American women pilots. The population of Sweetwater has remained steady between 11,000 and 13,000 since 1940. Sweetwater remains a production hub for such commodities as cotton, oil, and cattle. Gypsum plants, apparel manufacturers, cement plants, cotton compresses, a cottonseed oil mill, and packing companies were among the nearly 250 businesses operating there from the 1970s. Third Street in Sweetwater from 1920 to 1950. The International Harvester Company operated a factory on W. Gulf Refinery operated from 1929 to 1954, and at one time the town was a large telegraph center. Texas and Pacific Railway passenger service was discontinued in 1969. Businesses and homes were built along the rail lines. By 1912 the Santa Fe Railway was serving Sweetwater via its new Coleman Cutoff and completing a connection with the T&P nearby at "Tecific" junction. Construction began on the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway in 1903. To encourage the railroads, Sweetwater increased its water supply by building a small town lake called City Lake in 1898 (now called Newman Park), then three larger lakes were constructed thereafter. The Texas and Pacific Railway started service in 1881, with the first train arriving on March 12 of that year, beginning Sweetwater's long history as a railroad town. The town's name "Sweetwater" is the English translation of the Kiowa language word "Mobeetie".
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