In Wood County, Hawkins is located east of Dallas next to Big Sandy on US-80.
The community had a population of 200 in October 1940, when former lightweight boxer Bobby (Bobbie) Manziel made the first major oil discovery in Wood County, a wildcat well 3 miles north of town; Hawkins became an overnight boomtown.
The population of Hawkins climbed to 868 in the early 1960s, dropped to 761 by 1970, then rose again slowly to 1,302 by 1982. In 1988 Hawkins had a population of 1,242 and thirty-one businesses. By that time an Exxon refinery stood where the Hawkins Camp had been located.
Each October Hawkins celebrates its oil-based economy with an Oil Festival.
The population of Hawkins in 1990 was 1,309.