From Pantex Village resident to Pantexan

Brian Fowler, mid-1960s in front of his dad’s truck in Pantex Village. Photo provided by Brian Fowler via Historian Katie Paul’s archives

Nestled on the site of the plant, Pantex Village was more than just a collection of houses. It was a vibrant community that shaped the life of Mission Support Planner Brian Fowler, who grew up in this unique community during the 1960s.

Pantex Village was a community built on plant-site for Pantex employees. Read more about the history of the village here.

Born in 1963, Fowler was the only child of Texas Tech farmer Bill Fowler, who worked on the Pantex property for 48 years. Fowler spent his childhood exploring abandoned buildings, hunting prairie dogs with his father, and catching water dogs (a type of salamander) in local playa lakes.

Fowler's playground was unlike any other. He and his friend would ride motorcycles through old bomb-making facilities, swim in flooded building basements, and explore the remnants of a once-bustling community.

"We'd take inner tubes, and [those flooded basements] were our swimming pool," he remembered. "Sometimes you'd get snakes in there, and you'd just take them out so you could swim."

The village had its own general store, fire department, and church, though these would soon disappear as the community was dismantled by 1968.

He fondly remembered exploring the general store.

"I remember going in and you could hear the floor creak,” he said. “That was just the coolest thing."

Today, Fowler has come full circle, working at Pantex for 12 years and continuing the legacy his father always hoped for.

"My dad was so proud of this place and Texas Tech," he said. "He would mention it every once in a while, 'You need to get your butt out there and go to work.'"

For Fowler, working at Pantex is more than just a job. This role is a connection to family history, a tribute to his father's memory, and the continuation of a legacy.