Big Spring, city, seat of Howard County, western Texas; incorporated 1907. It is the commercial and processing center of a region producing cotton, livestock, petroleum, and natural gas. Manufactures include refined petroleum, petrochemicals, carbon black, farm equipment, plastic products, processed food, livestock feed, and clothing. A junior college, a historical museum, a sandhill crane sanctuary, and a state park are here. The city is named for a nearby spring, now dry. Population 24,804 (1980); 23,093 (1990); 25,233 (2000).
