USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 31
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In August, 1882, the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway was completed through Henrietta, and at that time other towns in the county were Cambridge, Newport and Buffalo Springs. Stock rais- ing was the leading industry. Cattle to the number of about 51.000 were assessed, about 3,700 horses and mules, 4,500 sheep, and about 2,700 hogs. In 1887 Henrietta became the terminus of the Gaines- ville, Henrietta & Western, a branch of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, and the same system subsequently extended a line to Wichita Falls. In 1903 a branch of the Wichita Valley Railroad was constructed from Wichita Falls a distance of twenty-three miles to Byers, an old town on the Red River in the northern part of Clay County. About
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1910 a line of railway was completed between Henrietta and Archer City.
Within the last ten years Clay County has produced a large amount of gas and oil. Actual production in the field north of Hen- rietta, about the town of Petrolia, began in 1904. In that year about 65,000 barrels were produced, and by the close of 1907, 169 productive wells were in the field. The production of the petroleum field for 1911 was about 169,000 barrels. In the same vicinity natural gas was discovered in 1907, and that is now one of the largest fields in Texas, producing in 1913 between 8,000,000 and 30,000,000 cubic feet daily. From the field pipe lines supply gas to Fort Worth, Dallas and Wichita Falls, and also the chief towns in Clay, Montague, Wise, Cooke, Grayson and other counties.
The value of taxable property found in the county in 1881 was $1,894,353; in 1903, $4,761,110; and in 1913, $14,483,375. The chief towns of the county are Henrietta, Bellevue, Byers, Petrolia and Halsell.
The soil and climate are adapted for fruit and truck growing and diversified farming. Thus far fruit growing has not been indulged in on a large scale. Among the horticultural products of the county that produce considerable revenue are pecans. Pecan trees are found in abundance along the streams. Cotton, corn, wheat and oats are the leading staples. The live stock industry is conducted in connection with farming.
Several large ranches are operated in sections at a distance from railroads. The raising of fancy and thoroughbred poultry is receiving the attention of a large number of citizens, and poultry products are shipped in large quantities to Texas markets. The last census report supplies the following statistics: Total area of the county, 741,120 acres, of which 719,370 acres were included in farms and about 233,- 500 acres in "improved land." There were 2,308 farms in 1910, as compared with 1,223 in 1900. The number of cattle in 1920 was' 44,169, horses and mules, 10,844. In 1920 the acreage in the chief crops was: Corn, 56,218; cotton, 71,086; oats, 10,767; wheat, 10,330; hay and forage crops, 10,689 ; about 1,000 acres were in potatoes, sweet potatoes 'and other vegetables; about 94,000 orchard fruit trees were enumerated, and about 19,000 pecan trees.
COCHRAN COUNTY
Created in 1876, and still unorganized, Cochran County lies to the west of Hockley and its western boundary is New Mexico. The surface is high and level, and while the county has no streams, and depends upon an underground water supply, the prairie grasses have made this section a natural home for cattle. The few ranchmen in the county have small orchards and a small acreage under cultivation, and it has been demonstrated that the staple crops and several varie- ties of fruits can be raised successfully. The county is without rail- roads, and the fact that it has not been more fully developed is largely due to its long distance from transportation lines. The nearest rail-
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road is the Pecos & Northern Texas division of the Santa Fe, com- pleted in 1911.
In 1900 population was 25; in 1910, 65; in 1920, 67. The assessed valuation in 1909 was $383,765; in 1913, $527,936; in 1920, $902,195. In 1900 the census reported only one farm in the county, while in 1910 there were sixteen. The total area is 556,160 acres, the greater part of which was included in farms or ranches in 1910, but only 1,826 acres classified as "improved land." The last census reported 15,390 cattle. About 350 acres were planted in corn and kaffir corn and milo maize in 1909, and there were over 1,000 orchard fruit trees.
COKE COUNTY
This county was detached from the extensive territory of original Tom Green County on March 13, 1889, and a county government was organized April 23 of the same year. The first county seat was Hay- rick, a village name no longer existing, but in 1891 the government was moved to Robert Lee, near the center of the county. The county seat is on the north bank of the main branch of the Colorado River, which runs centrally through the county from northwest to east. This river, with its tributaries, furnished the water for stock purposes during the first settlement, and the greater part of agricultural devel- opment has been along the same streams. A small area of land is irri- gated in the Colorado Valley.
Near the northeast corner of the county, but across the line in Runnels County, was situated old Fort Chadbourne, a military post established before the war. It was under the protection of this fort that the stockmen ventured out to the extreme frontier, and the exist- ence of Fort Concho, some miles to the south, during the years follow- ing the war was another fact favoring the occupation of what is now Coke County. Permanent development began with the decade of the '80s. In 1880 Nolan County, on the north, had a population of about 700, while Runnels County, on the east, had about 1,000. Early in the '80s the Texas & Pacific was built through the tier of counties on the north, while in the same decade the Santa Fe reached San Angelo. These facts contributed to give Coke County a population of 2,059 in 1890, the year following the establishment of the county. Its popu- lation in 1900 was 3,430; in 1910, 6,412, and in 1920, 4,557. About 1910 the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad was put in operation from Sweetwater to San Angelo, crossing the eastern edge of Coke County. Along this railroad the towns of Tennyson, Bronte, Raw- lings and Fort Chadbourne were established, and other towns off the railroad are Robert Lee, still the county seat, and Edith and Sance.
The assessed valuation of property in the county in 1903 was $1,601,747 ; in 1909, $2,902,621 ; in 1913, $3,215,825, and in 1920, $3,102,- 585. The county has its chief resources in stock raising, while agri- culture has made considerable progress, especially during the last fifteen years. In 1910 there were 969 farms, while the number in 1900 was 480. The total area of the county is 595,840 acres, the greater part of which was occupied in farms at the last census, and about 66,000 acres were "improved land," while at the preceding census the
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amount of land in cultivation was about 21,000 acres. The stock interests in 1920 were: Cattle, 9,004; horses and mules, about 5,801; sheep, 12,137. The farmers place their chief dependence in cotton, and in 1909 the acreage in that crop was 29,690; in kaffir corn and milo maize, 6,279; in hay and forage crops, 6,812; and in corn, 2,832. The soils in many parts of the county are adapted to fruit and truck crops, and the last census reported about 18,000 trees in orchard fruits. There is something like 100,000 acres of tillable land that is susceptible to irrigation from the Colorado River in this county, and as there is now a plan on foot to dam the river, the thing is a possi- bility. The West Texas Chamber of Commerce has taken the matter up with the Federal Government to finance the proposition.
Coke has ten gins, twenty-three schools and has three steel bridges across the Colorado River. This county has the reputation of being the best cow country in Texas.
Robert Lee, the county seat, has four churches, one bank, two gins and one newspaper.
COLEMAN COUNTY
In 1870 Coleman County had less than 350 population, while in 1910 its inhabitants numbered over 22,000. A few cattlemen and their followers, a few ranch houses, and large herds of stock grazing on the open range, measured the development of the county in the first years. During the first ten years of the present century the county more than doubled in population, and the increase of its material wealth was even greater. It is now a county of farms, substantial towns and diversified business interests. In the summer of 1856 Maj. Van Dorn, of the United States Army, afterwards distinguished as a general in the Confederacy, established Camp Colorado on Jim Ned Creek in what is now Coleman County. Some remains of the stone and wooden buildings of this post still exist. Maj. Van Dorn kept a detachment of the Second Cavalry there for two or three years. The presence of the garrison attracted a few settlers, though they made no permanent improvements. The county was on the extreme fron- tier, and both the regular soldiers and the Texas Rangers patrolled throughout this district. Camp Colorado was abandoned after the war.
February 1, 1858, the Legislature defined the boundaries of a num- ber of counties, among them Coleman, named in honor of Robert M. Coleman, a figure in the Texas Revolution. But nearly twenty years passed before the county was sufficiently settled to maintain a county government. In 1875 a local government was organized, and in the fall of 1876 Coleman, the county seat, was laid off. A quotation from an account written in 1877 reads: On a site that in 1873 had been barren of any vestige of human habitation, the beautiful plateau being the haunt of the buffalo more often than of domestic animals, was in the latter part of 1876 the growing little village of Coleman City, whose first house had been completed scarcely two months before and which now contained twenty-seven first-class buildings, with merchants, lawyers, building contractors, good school, hotel, and half
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a mile from town the United States telegraph line. A year later Coleman had a population of 400 and was incorporated.
Beginning in 1875 this county soon became one of the favorite centers of the range stock industry. The county was one immense pasture, and excepting the tradesmen at the county seat and one or two other places the population consisted almost entirely of the cattle- men and their "outfits." About 1880 the farmer class made some advance into this region, especially when it became known that the Santa Fe Railroad would be built. But in 1882 it was estimated that not over 4,000 acres had been touched by the plow, while the live stock at that time numbered about 9,000 horses and mules, 40,000 cattle and 85,000 sheep and other stock.
In March, 1886, what was then known as the main line of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad reached Coleman, and was extended on through the county the same year. A tap line was built to reach Coleman City, it being the policy of early railroad construc- tion in Texas to avoid towns which did not offer attractive subsidies, and Coleman City is one of the number of such cases in Texas. However, this tap line has since become the starting point of the Coleman-Texico branch of the Santa Fe, by which that system has a short cut from its main transcontinental division to gulf ports. This division was completed about 1911, and has furnished additional rail- way facilities for Coleman County.
The population of the county at different decades has been: In 1870, 347 ; in 1880, 3,603 (35 negroes) ; in 1890, 6,112; in 1900, 10,077 (90 negroes) ; in 1910, 22,618; in 1920, 18,805. The population is largely native American stock, with the admixture of a number of different nationalities in small numbers, Mexico being the foreign country most numerously represented. In 1882 the only towns of the county were Coleman City and Trickham. The principal towns outside of the county seat at present are: Santa Anna, situated at the base of Santa Anna Mountain, in which vicinity a small oil and gas field has been developed; Goldsboro; Rockwood, located in the coal mining district along the Colorado River; Glencove, Burkett, Talpa. Vilera, Novice and Silver Valley. Coleman City, which had a popu- lation of 906 in 1890, 1,362 in 1900, and 3,046 in 1910, has been devel- oped both commercially and as a place of residence in recent years. It has the improvements and advantages of a progressive West Texas town, and is the center of a large volume of trade.
While the live stock interests are still important, there has been great agricultural development near the railroad and in the valley lands. It is estimated that about 1,000 acres are under irrigation. At the last census 2,938 farms were found in the county, as compared with 1,369 in 1900. The area of the county is 825,600 acres, and about 239,000 acres were classified as "improved land" in 1909, as against not quite 90,000 acres in 1900. The county has a great variety of crops. In 1909 the largest acreage was in cotton, 120,788; kaffir corn and milo maize, 19,401 acres; corn, 6,238 acres; hay and forage crops, 14,619 acres, besides oats, wheat, about 500 acres in potatoes and vegetables, and approximately 59,000 trees in orchard fruits.
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The county also produces a considerable quantity of pecans. The live stock interests in 1920 were measured by the following statistics : Cattle, 23,920; horses and mules, about 11,456; hogs, 5,158; sheep, 12,137, making this one of the principal counties in that industry ; goats, 2,538.
In 1882 the taxable values of Coleman County were $1,733,603, more than a third being represented by live stock ; in 1903, $5,611,513; in 1913, $13,119,970; in 1920, $13,275,200.
COMANCHE COUNTY
This county was created in 1856 and organized, with a local gov- ernment, on March 17th of the same year. Its territory was taken from Coryell and Bosque counties, and was originally a part of the great Milam District, which was a nominal jurisdiction from the time of the Texas Revolution. Comanche was one of twenty or more counties in Central Texas that came into existence before the war, but it was on the western frontier, and was very sparsely inhabited, living conditions were primitive, industry was pastoral rather than agricultural, and for the greater part of two decades the people were able to accomplish little more than maintain their precarious foot- hold. The wave of immigration that settled the Upper Brazos Valley also extended to Comanche County, and in 1860 its population was officially 709. During the following decade the resources of the older counties were absorbed in the struggle of the war, while the hostilities of the Indian tribes made settled conditions impossible along the border. The real development of the county began about 1870, when its population was 1,001. By 1880 population had increased to 8,608: in the following decade, though a portion of Comanche was taken to form Mills County, population increased to 15,608 by 1890; in 1900 it was 23,009; in 1910, 27,186; in 1920, 25,748.
Comanche was a border county until about 1880. In 1881 the Texas Central Railway was constructed across the northern corner of the county to a connection with the Texas & Pacific at Cisco, and that railroad did a great deal to change the county from one of purely pastoral activities to a farming section. A large portion of the county is included in a belt of woodland known as the Upper Cross Timbers, and about a fourth of the county is still classified as woodland. The decade of the '80s marked the introduction of agri- culture and the breaking up of the range lands, and since then this development has progressed until Comanche is ranked among the agricultural sections of Central West Texas. At the last census there were 4,372 farms in the county, compared with 3,548 farms in 1900. Of a total area of 606,720 acres, 541,475 acres were occupied as farms, and approximately 253,000 acres were "improved lands." In 1882 the stock interests were estimated in round numbers at 31,000 cattle, 5,500 horses and mules, 9,000 sheep, and 9,000 hogs. At the last census the live stock interests were 25,623 cattle, about 12,026 horses and mules, 9,760 hogs, about 7,210 sheep and goats. In 1909, 136,945 acres were planted in cotton, 29,323 acres in corn, 13,323 acres in hay and forage crops, about 800 acres were in potatoes, sweet potatoes and
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other vegetables, and minor crops according to acreage were oats, wheat and peanuts. The county claims importance as a center of fruit and nut production, about 195,000 orchard fruit trees being enumerated at the last census, and over 23,000 pecan trees.
In 1881 the wealth of the county, as estimated by taxable values, was $1,377,285, more than a fourth of which was represented by live stock; in 1903, $5,117,176; in 1913, $11,789,449; in 1920, $20,387,552. During 1890-91 the line of the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad was built through the county. Comanche, the county seat, was a small town and noteworthy only as the seat of government until the coming of the railroad. The population in 1890 was 1,226; in 1900, 2,070 ; in 1910, 2,756, and in 1920, 3,542. The town of DeLeon orig- inated as a station on the Texas Central Railway, and had a popula- tion in 1890 of 364, in 1900, of 807, and in 1910, of 1,015. Other towns are Sipe Springs, along the new branch of the Texas Central, where a small oil and gas field has been developed; Proctor, Hasse, Gustine, Lamkin, Comyn and Sidney. The old town of Comanche was for several years an important station on the Great Continental stage coach line covering the distance of 1,700 miles from Fort Worth, then the terminus of the Texas & Pacific Railway, to Fort Yuma and there connecting with the California system of transporta- tion. This line of coaches was operated regularly from July, 1878. through Comanche, until the progress of construction on the Texas & Pacific had made this method of transportation obsolete. This old stage route was no inconsiderable factor in the development of Comanche County during the decade of the '70s. In the last nine years Comanche has become the junction point for the new line of the Cotton Belt constructed from Gatesville to Comanche, its present terminus.
COMANCHE
Comanche has been the county site since June 18, 1859, being removed at that date from the old town of Cora, fourteen miles south- east, which was the original seat of government from June 4, 1856, until date of removal.
At the census of 1920 the population was 3,524, as compared with 2,756 in 1910 and 2,070 in 1900. The assessed polls for 1920, which included few, if any, women, were 408. The present city limits cover four square miles, while the independent school district, including the city, comprises about fifteen square miles. The city assessment for 1920 shows real estate, $1,971,967 ; personal property, $1,115,203, which latter includes money and credits, $475,333, or almost half of the personal property assessed, total assessment, $3,087,170. The school district shows $235,673 additional real estate and $68,242 addi- tional personal property, or a total assessment of $3,391,085.
The scholastic enrollment in the school in September, 1920, was over 900. Schools are maintained from September until May, or nine months, with 23 teachers besides the city superintendent, in four school buildings, three for graded schools and one high school. The court house square and its approaches are paved with cement grout-
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ing, surfaced with cement and finished with asphalt, which cost about $20,000.
There are two lines of railroad converging here, the Cotton Belt extension from McGregor, terminating here, and the Fort Worth & Rio Grande, extending from Fort Worth to Menard. The Western Union has a telegraph city office and the Southwestern long distance has location with a strong local telephone line leading to all parts of the county. The line of the Texas Power & Light Company passes through from Brownwood to Dublin, and furnishes light, power and heat for all demands.
There are between 80 and 100 trading and mechanical concerns, including some 30 or 40 mercantile establishments; with three banks. two national and one state. There is an ice plant, a sand-lime brick factory, a wholesale grocery, an oil refinery, a flouring mill and a cotton warehouse among other concerns.
Churches are well represented, including Methodists, Baptists, Christians, Disciples, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Universalists, all having buildings of their own. The Catholics are unrepresented except in an occasional mission.
Fraternal societies are strong, the Masons having one of the finest temples in the state, while the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias each has its own lodge building. Two order of Woodmen is strongly organized, and has a well-equipped rented hall.
The last bank statement, December 29, 1920, showed an original capital of $265,000, with surplus nad undivided profits, $102,281.54. deposits $1,127,895.09, loans $1,046,389.54, cash $309,244.18, and other assets totaling $1,645,511.94. excess of assets over outside liabilities, $367,281.54.
The city tax rate is 50 cents general and 15 for road purposes. The school tax is 50 cents. For 1921 the city has reduced the city poll from $1.00 to 75 cents, making $1.50 for a husband and wife.
CONCHO COUNTY
Until very recent years Concho County has been regarded as included in the great Western Texas cattle range, a typical stock country, its undulating surface of hills and valleys, with scant growth of timber, furnishing a country whose primary usefulness is as pas- ture land. It was during the decade of the '70s that the pioneer stock- men made their first determined advance into the country, which they disputed with the buffalo and the Indian, and since then many thousand head of cattle, sheep and horses have grazed on the rich grasses of Concho County's land and have been driven out to market. Since the beginning of the present century agriculture has made important strides, and there are sufficient statistics to prove a great development in that line in that time.
Concho County was one of the county divisions created before the war by the Legislature in 1858, its territory having been taken from the original Bexar district. As was true of McCulloch County on the East, the stockmen had little interest in a permanent county organiza . tion, and the first county government was organized March 11, 1879.
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The latter date indicates about the beginning of consecutive improve- ment and development in the county. The statistics of population indicate quite accurately other facts of progress. Population in 1880 was 100; in 1890, 1,065; in 1900, 1,427; in 1910, 6,654, and in 1920. 5,847. In 1881 the value of taxable property in Concho County was $445,185, to which live stock contributed values amounting to about $165,000.
In 1888 the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway, which for several years had been building westward from Lampasas, was completed to San Angelo, and, passing close to the northwest corner of Concho County, furnished the most accessible railway conveniences for that county during the next twenty years. About 1910 a short line of railway was constructed from the Santa Fe at Miles into Concho County to Paint Rock. A year or so later branches of the Santa Fe through San Saba and McCulloch County, and of the Fort Worth & Rio Grande from Brady, penetrated the southeast corner of Concho County.
The county seat from the time of organization has been Paint Rock at the north end of the county and in the valley of the Concho River The other chief settlements concentrated in the southeastern part of the county, where the older town was Eden, while Eola and Millers- view were country communities between these two first mentioned places. Eden is now the western terminus of the line of the Santa Fe from Brady, and one or two other villages have sprung up with the railway.
In 1903 the valuation of property in Concho County was $1,935,- 689. Development during the next ten-year period is indicated by the rise of taxable values to $4,471,897 by 1913; and in 1920, $5,105,401. The last Federal census enumerated 865 farms in Concho County, as compared with 119 in 1900. The area of the county is 617,377 acres, and while the census reported a part of this land in farms, only about 80,000 acres was classified as "improved land," which figures in themselves indicate much progress during the preceding decade, since the amount of improved land in 1900 was only 6,184 acres. The live stock interests in 1920 were: Cattle, 24,376; horses and mules, 5,017; sheep, 37,019; hogs, 1,661.
The County of Concho has a good system of schools and the last session of the law makers gave it several independent districts. During the last three years most of the smaller rural schools have been made a part of the larger rural schools and many small schools have made one good one.
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