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Wilbarger County, Texas

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Contents

History/Timeline

  • The county was created from Bexar District in 1858 and later organized in 1881. Wilbarger is named for Josiah Pugh Wilbarger and Mathias Wilbarger, two early settlers.[1]County seat is Vernon.[2]
1833 Josiah was a surveyor who became famous as the man who lived 12 years after being scalped by Comanches, 1833, near Austin. He had saved his life by putting a wool sock on his head; he was rescued next day by neighbors.[3]


https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcw09

1858 - Wilbarger County was established from Bexar District. Due to just beginning it was attached to Clay County for judicial purposes.[4]
Confederate soldier.
Late 1870's This area was the buffalo hunting ground of the Wanderers Band of Comanches. Then great buffalo hunts by whites destroyed the herds and United States Army campaigns removed the Indians. It was within the Peters' Colony, but hostile Indians kept settlers away until after 1878. At that time this was within the boundary of the Peters colony, but without settlement due to Indian hostilities.[4]
1880 C. F. and J. Doan, the first settlers in the area, built Doan's Crossing and Store where the Western Trail crossed the Red River; C. F. Doan became the county's first postmaster. Quanah Parker and his Comanche followers visited the Doan family frequently, and Comanche-Kiowa Indians from Oklahoma marketed in Vernon
1879 Mrs. A. T. Boger held classes for schoolchildren in a dugout E of Vernon, and by the next year a school had been built.
1879 W. B. Worsham established the R2 Ranch with headquarters at Big Spring.
.
Settlers without livestock made a living poisoning coyotes for their hides.[4]
Bone gatherers hauled their bones and hides to Gainesville, where bones could be sold for $20-$22 dollars/ ton.. Buffalo bones for the eastern fertilizer plants was another source of income. [4]
1880 (126 ) people were living in the area with 30 farms or ranches, on 4,800 acres, 1,292 cattle and 46 sheep were reported. 225 acres were planted in corn.[4]
1881 -Wilbarger County was organized in 1881, with Vernon as the county seat. The county only had fifty-six voters in the county at that time. [4]
1886, 1887, Fort Worth and Denver City Railway built into Vernon, connecting the county to the the outside markets and encouraging immigration. Ranchers donated rights of way to the railroad. [4]
1889 The Vernon Weekly Call newspaper was established by D. O. McConnell. [4]
1890 There were 720 farms and ranches, on 313,000 acres, in Wilbarger County, population was 7,092. Ranching had 23,000 cattle and 21,000 sheep. Crop farming began with 6,000 acres planted in corn, 11,000 acres in wheat,13,000 acres in oats; and 1,600 acres in cotton. [4]
1900With 636 farms present in the county, the population was 5,759. Crop acreage had increased to 14,000 acres planted in corn, 34,000 acres in wheat, and 4,000 acres in cotton. Cattle increased to 33,000 head that year. The agricultural economy rapidly expanded between 1900 and 1920 as hundreds of new farmers moved into the area.[4]
1908 - The first oil well was drilled, with a second well in 1915. After the first oil well in the county had been drilled in 1908, the1920s the petroleum industry was well established. [4]
1920 -Old ranch lands were converted to crops, cattle declined to 10,000 cattle in the county. Population increased to 12,000 by 1910 and to 15,112 by 1920. Cotton was the crop.[4]
1923 - largest oil field was the South Vernon field in 1923 was extended across the South part of Wilbarger county.
1930 Great Depression Due to drought The cotton economy was devastated. Almost 166,000 acres were planted in cotton, 1,400 acres were devoted to wheat and 8,000 acres to corn. 1,717 farms were operated by tenants. [4]
1940 -over 70,000 acres were planted in cotton; the cropland harvested in the county dropped from 207,000 acres in 1930 to 171,000 acres.[4]
1940 only 753 tenant farmers remained. The rapidly developing oil industry offset some loss. :1938 more than 3,369,000 barrels of oil were produced in the county. Nevertheless, 20 percent of the population moved away during the depression, and by 1940 only 20,474 people lived there.
1940's and 1950's Agriculture revived, 236,000 acres of cropland were harvested in Wilbarger County; ive down the number of farms push tenant farmers off the land. [4]
1959 There were 873 farms, 340 were operated by tenants. Cattle again became important, 41,000 cattle were reported in 1950 (30,000 in 1959). [4]
1950, 1960's Petroleum production began to decline. Production increased from 3,176,000 barrels in 1948 to 5,456,000 barrels in 1956 and to 6,011,000 barrels in 1965. [4]
1982 oil and gas industry remained important 10,000,000 cubic feet of gas-well gas, almost 245,000,000 cubic feet of casinghead gas, and almost 1,968,000 barrels of crude oil were produced. Almost 1,219,000 barrels of crude were produced in 1990; by January 1, 1991, 252,208,000 barrels had been produced in the county since 1915. [4]
1982 93% of the land was in farms and ranches; 41% of the farmland was cultivated, and 9 % percent was irrigated. 69% of the agricultural income was wheat, cotton, hay, oats, and guar; watermelons were also grown. Cattle and hogs were the county's primary livestock. Industries included meat packing and the manufacture of resins, plastic material, and men's clothing.[4]



1871 -Waggoner Ranch located in Archer, Baylor, Foard, Knox, Wichita, and Wilbarger counties, size 524,000 acres, PRIMARY USE cattle, quarter horses Waggoner Ranch - W.T “TOM” Waggoner and father began their ranching by leasing acreage in Texas. Soon they leased thousands of acres.. By the time W.T. died in 1934,the Ranch was the largest contiguous piece of ranch land in the USA, 524,000 acres spread over 6 counties, and a single fence! In his will, Waggoner specified not to divide the ranch. Half of the Ranch is owned by Electra Waggoner Biggs (86 year old)and her children and grandchildren. The other half is owned by Albert B "Buck" Wharton III (age 51 and a cousin.. The two owners have feuded over management of the ranch for 20 years, yet live in separate houses, located on the west side of the ranch property.[5]


Government Offices

Wilbarger County has had three courthouses:1883, 1890 and the present 1928 [6]

1st Courthouse, 1883 no image
2nd Courthouse, 1890 - 1890 Wilbarger County courthouse was designed by architect James Edward Flanders who designed many Second Empire style courthouses in Texas in the late 1800s. . The first image is from a Postcard. The second image is a photo of an oil painting of the early courthouse.[6]
H1890 Wilbarger Courthouse, postcard.
1890 painting of Courthouse.
3rd Courthouse, 1928 to present -Style - Classical Revival
As mentioned by Terry Jeanson, "The 1928 Wilbarger County courthouse was one the earliest Texas courthouses designed by the architectural firm of Voelcker and Dixon. This courthouse appeared to have survived many of modern renovations that mar the decor. The handsome district courtroom, show wooden wainscoting and decorated ceiling. [6]
Current Courthouse
WW I Doughboy

Geography

North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas, Northeastern Texas and Nortex) is a distinct cultural and geographic area forming the central-northeastern section of the U.S. state of Texas. North Texas is generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, and north of Waco. North Texas,the northern part of the eastern portion of Texas.[1]

The counties included are Archer, Baylor, Clay, Collin, Cooke, Cottle, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Erath, Fannin, Foard, Grayson, Hardeman, Hood, Hunt, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Montague, Navarro, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Tarrant, Wichita, Wilbarger, Wise, and Young County, Texas.[1]

Early animals and grasses-- tall sage grass supported antelope, deer, buffalo, wild turkey, and prairie chickens, and in season the land offered wild plums, grapes, currants, persimmons, and pecans. [4]

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcw09

Wilbarger County is in northern Texas, along the Oklahoma border.
Center of the county is at 34°07' north latitude and 99°15' west longitude. Vernon,
County seat and largest city,-- Vernon is 35 miles NW of Wichita Falls.
Size: 947 square miles of rolling plains
Soil -sandy, loam, and waxy soils that support tall grasses, mesquite, and shinnery oak trees. :Altitude 1,050 to 1,400 feet above sea level.
Rivers/Creeks - Red and Pease rivers. Santa Rosa Lake, a reservoir on Beaver Creek in the south central part of the county, stores water used primarily for irrigation.
Rainfall averages 25.65 inches
Temperatures 29° F in January to an average maximum of 98° in July.
Growing season lasts 221 days.
Minerals include volcanic ash, sand, gravel, and bituminous coal, oil, gas.

Adjacent counties

  • Tillman County, Oklahoma (north)
  • Wichita County (east)
  • Baylor County (south)
  • Foard County (west)
  • Hardeman County (west)
  • Jackson County, Oklahoma (northwest)

Protected areas

  • mental health center,
  • Drug treatment center,
  • county airport,
  • Red River Valley Museum,
  • county library.
  • Santa Rosa Lake, a reservoir
  • Texas A&M Research and Extension

Demographics

In 2000, there were 14,676 people, 5,537 households with a population density of 15 people/sq mi. The racial makeup of the county was 78.17% White, 8.86% Black or African American, 0.66% Native American, 0.63% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 9.73% from other races, and 1.91% from two or more races. 20.54% of the population were Hispanic. [1]

The median income for a household in the county was $29,500, and the median income for a family was $38,685. Males had a median income of $26,001 versus $19,620 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,520. About 9.00% of families and 13.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.00% of those under age 18 and 13.30% of those age 65 or over.[1]

Major highways

  • U.S. Highway 70
  • U.S. Highway 183
  • U.S. Highway 283
  • U.S. Highway 287

Politics: voters in Wilbarger County supported the Democratic candidate in every election from 1884 to 1948, except in 1928. The county voted Republican in 1952, 1960, and 1972, and Democratic in 1956, 1964, 1968, and 1976. The county then went Republican in every presidential election between 1980 and 1992. [7]

Education

  • Vernon Regional Junior College is located there
  • Texas A&M Research and Extension

Other

  • mental health center,
  • Drug treatment center,
  • county airport,
  • Red River Valley Museum,
  • county library.
  • Santa Rosa Lake, a reservoir
  • Texas A&M Research and Extension
  • U.S. highways 183, 283, 287, and 70 are the main transportation arteries.


Cities

  • Vernon (county seat)
  • Oklaunion
Town
  • Harrold
  • Hoot and Holler Crossing
  • Odell
    • Doan's Crossing ghost town
  • Fargo
  • Grayback
  • Harrold
    • Odell ghost town
    • Ronda ghost town
    • Tolbert ghost town

Formed From

Bexar district

Resources

  • mental health center,
  • drug treatment center,
  • county airport,
  • Red River Valley Museum
  • county library. A Texas A&M Research and Extension
  • Vernon Record newspaper
  • Wilbarger county website

Census

1880 --- 126 —
1890 --- 7,092 5,528.6%
1900 --- 5,759 −18.8%
1910 --- 12,000 108.4%
1920 --- 15,112 25.9%
1930 --- 24,579 62.6%
1940 --- 20,474 −16.7%
1950 --- 20,552 0.4%
1960 --- 17,748 −13.6%
1970 --- 15,355 −13.5%
1980 --- 15,931 3.8%
1990 --- 15,121 −5.1%
2000 --- 14,676 −2.9%
2010 --- 13,535 −7.8%
Est. 2015 --- 13,027

Notables

Jack English Hightower, Memphis, Texas, native; former member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature, and former U.S. Representative
Roy Orbison, singer/songwriter born in Wilbarger County
Daryl Richardson, running back for the St. Louis Rams
Bernard Scott, running back for the Cincinnati Bengals
Jack Teagarden, bandleader and trombonist
John Clay Wolfe, American radio personality career in Wilbarger County on KSEY

Land Grants

Cemeteries



Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbarger_County,_Texas
  2. ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/topics/government/wilbarger-county
  3. ↑ http://www.texasescapes.com/Counties/Wilbarger-County-Texas.htm
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcw09
  5. ↑ http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-biggest-ranches/
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Vernon/Wilbarger-County-Courthouse-Texas-Vernon.htm
  7. ↑ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcw09







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