USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 37
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The acreage planted to the chief crops in 1909 was : Hay and forage crops, 12,075, including 837 acres in alfalfa ; corn, 11,535; wheat, 1,784 : oats, 687 ; kaffir corn and milo maize, 545. Up to 1910 horticulture had made little progress, only about 3,600 orchard fruit trees being enum- erated in that year. The valuation of property in the county in 1903 was $1,307,616; in 1913, $3,870,481, and in 1920, $3,899,730.
Canadian, the county seat, has a population of 2,500. It has three banks, two National and one State Bank; two hardware stores, two furniture stores, five groceries, two drug stores, one variety store, four dry goods stores, one electric plant, two grain elevators and a steam laundry. Being a division point, the Santa Fe has its shops here. The town also has water works and sewer system. There are two public school buildings and five churches.
HOCKLEY COUNTY
This is one of the unorganized counties in the Staked Plains region. County boundaries were formed in 1876, but up to the present time the county has been given over to ranch owners, and practically its entire area is enclosed in the great pastures which a few years ago were the rule in all West Texas. The county lies just west of Lubbock, and the building of railways in that section during the last four or five years has made the lands of Hockley County more available for the agricul-
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tural settler. The Pecos & Northern Texas division of the Santa Fe system crosses the extreme northeastern corner of the county.
In 1900 the population was 44; in 1910, 137, and in 1920, 137. There were five farms or ranches in 1900 and twenty-three in 1910. The total area is 554.880 acres, of which 181,432 acres were included in farms in 1910. The amount of "improved land" in 1900 was 360 acres, and 2,657 acres in 1910. While the grazing of live stock is the chief in- dustry, the numbers of live stock are much smaller than in many other sections of the state. In 1910 the number of cattle was 8,272, and 271 horses and mules ; in 1920. 15,650 cattle and 384 horses and mules. In 1909, 479 acres were planted in corn; 544 acres in hay and forage crops, and 133 acres in kaffir corn and milo maize.
The assessed wealth of the county in 1909 was $475,715; in 1913. owing to the building of the railway and increased development, the valuation was $1,129,904, and in 1920. $2,849,500.
HOOD COUNTY
The first settlers went into what is now Hood County before the war, but until about 1870 were on the frontier line of North Texas counties and had to protect home and stock against the incursions of raiding Indians. Hood County's area for about ten years after the first settlers came was included in Johnson County. The legislature on November 2, 1866, erected a separate county, named Hood in honor of General J. B. Hood. In 1875 the south part of the county was detached to form Somervell County. In the act of 1866 it was directed that the county seat, when selected, should be called Granbury. Besides Gran- bury one of the early centers of settlement was at Thorp Spring. There. in 1873, J. A. Clark & Sons, Addison and Randolph, started the private school which was soon afterwards chartered as Add-Ran College, and in 1895 it was moved to Waco and became the Texas Christian Uni- versity. After the removal of the college an institute was maintained at Thorp Spring known as Jarvis Institute named, in honor of one of the principal founders of the Texas Christian University. Besides Gran- bury and Thorp Spring, Acton was a small village in 1870.
Until the '80s stock-raising was the staple industry of the inhabitants. The cattle of the ranches went to the Fort Worth markets, and in 1887 the Fort Worth & Rio Grande Railroad was built as far as Granbury. and most of its traffic came from the live stock raised on the range west and south of Hood County. Granbury remained the terminus of that road until 1889. About the same time had been completed the line of the Santa Fe between Cleburne and Weatherford. crossing the extreme northeastern corner of Hood County. In the past twenty-five years prac- tically all the ranch land has been developed as farms and there has been considerable agricultural development. The county is one of the smaller civil areas in the state, having an area of 259,200 acres. The last census reported that of this total about 238,000 acres were occupied in farms, and 91,000 acres classified as "improved land." However, the statistics for that year showed less "improved land" than at the preceding census.
In 1910 there were 1,786 farms in the county, as compared with 1,477 in 1900. The live stock comprised 12,627 cattle; about 5,414 horses and mules; 5.410 hogs. In 1909. 35.050 acres were planted in
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cotton : 8,423 acres in corn : 2,612 acres in hay and forage crops, and a small acreage in oats and wheat. The county had approximately 58,000 trees in orchard fruit and about 11,000 pecan trees.
In 1870 the population of Hood County, before the separation of Somervell County, was 2,585; in 1880, 6,125 (198 negroes ) ; in 1890. 7.614; in 1900, 9,146 (241 negroes) ; in 1910, 10,008; in 1920, 8,759. After the coming of the railway Granbury became a prosperous town. and in 1890 had a population of 1,164; in 1900, 1,410, and in 1910, 1,336. Besides the older towns of Thorp Spring and Acton the other centers are Cresson, in the northeast corner of the county, Tolar and Lipan.
The assessed wealth of Hood County in 1870 was $423,194; in 1882. $1.367,956; in 1903, $2,277.494 ; in 1913, $4.038,337 ; in 1920, $4,409,197.
HOWARD COUNTY
Howard County was created from the Bexar district during the '70s. but its county government was not organized until June 15, 1882.
COURT HOUSE AT BIG SPRINGS
The total population of the county at the census of 1880 was given as fifty. Cattlemen and buffalo hunters had taken temporary possession. and Big Springs, on account of abundance of water, had long been an oasis in these western plains. The map of Texas in 1874 indicates the springs as one of the conspicuous geographical points in the country.
During 1881 the great army of railroad builders passed through the county laying the tracks of the Texas & Pacific Railroad, and the springs were as useful to the railroad as they had been to the buffalo and cattle. With the railroad came permanent settlement, stock ranches and farms were established for miles along the right of way, and from that time civilization began to develop its various institutions and activities.
By 1890 the population of the county was 1,210; it doubled during the next decade, being 2,528 in 1900; in 1910 was 8,881, and in 1920.
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8,962. In 1900 the population of Big Spring was 1,255, or approx- imately half of the total population of the county, a proportion which was maintained through the next decade, since the population of the chief city in 1910 was 4,102. Other towns in the county are Coahoma. Morita, Soash and Vincent.
While the cattle industry is very prominent, as it has been for more than thirty years, the soil of Howard County is very fertile and is well adapted to the growth of cotton, milo maize, kaffir corn and all kinds of fruits. The agricultural interests are growing, and the figures of the last census indicate the truth of the assertion. In 1910 the census enumerators found 891 farms in Howard County as com- pared with only 130 in 1900. The approximate total area of the county is 570,240 acres, and of this area about 85,000 acres were in "improved land" in 1910, as compared with less than 6,000 in the same classification ten years before. In 1909, 22,197 acres were planted in cotton, 13,458 acres in kaffir corn and milo maize, 917 acres in corn, 2,237 acres in hay and forage crops, while the fruit interests were indicated by the enumeration of about 28,000 orchard fruit trees. The live stock enumeration for the county in 1910 was: Cattle, 32,545; horses and mules, about 5,300; hogs, 2,594; and poultry, 32,244 ; in 1920, cattle, 8,422; horses and mules, 2,262.
Since the construction of the Texas & Pacific Railway Big Springs has been a division point on that road. A selection of the point was chiefly due to the existence of superior water supplies such as could not be found at any other place in West Texas along the route of the railway. The Big Spring proper are about a mile and a half south of the city, and as they constituted a great natural water.supply to the early stockmen, the railway company found them equally useful, and for a number of years the city water supply was drawn from the same source. Finally the Big Spring Water Company was organ- ized and sunk wells to tap an abundant underground supply near the same springs. In 1881 Big Spring was a village of tents and adobe huts. There was nothing to support the town at that time except the railway interests and scattering ranches, but as the railway company began to enlarge its machine shops and the ranches became more numerous the little village began a steady growth which has con- tinued until the present time. The railway company in 1906 con- structed new shops at a cost of half a million dollars, and that improvement came about the time the farmers made their greatest advance in the movement to crowd out the ranchmen. In April. 1907, the city was incorporated, and has acquired municipal improve- ments equal to any found in towns of similar size in all West Texas.
Howard County has made a substantial increase in material wealth in the past ten years, particularly during the first half of that decade. The amount of taxable property in the county in 1903 was $2,422,420; in 1909, $4,797,940; in 1910. $4.842,805; and in 1920. $5,295,000.
BIG SPRING
Big Spring is the county seat of Howard County. It is situated on the Texas & Pacific Railway, 270 miles west of Fort Worth, and is
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a division point on that road. The Bankhead Highway and the Puget Sound to the Gulf Highway cross here. The railway main- tains offices of the division and shops at this point which employ from 500 to 600 skilled mechanics.
The population is around 5,000. There are two national and one state bank, with deposits aggregating $1,250,000.
It has one of the best high schools in the state, affiliated with the State University and other universities of the South.
It has an abundance of the very best water, which is found at a depth of 200 feet.
The United States Government maintains one of its Dry Land Experiment Farms, well equipped for all kinds of agricultural work at this place.
All the religious denominations have church buildings.
The city owns and operates its water plant. It has a very large ice plant, an electric light plant and the usual number of mercantile establishments incident to a town of this size.
HUTCHINSON COUNTY
The Canadian River divides Hutchinson County almost centrally, and the valley of that stream and its tributaries furnish great diversity to the topography of the county. The county has no railway, though . a line known as the Enid, Ochiltree & Western has been surveyed and construction is proposed in the near future. The county was organized in 1901, and for many years has supported a meager popu- lation, largely of stockmen, and lack of transportation has delayed any considerable agricultural development. The population in 1880 was 50; in 1890, 58; in 1900, 303; in 1910, 692, and in 1920, 721. The county seat is Plemons, in the center of the county and near the Canadian River, and there are several stores and small settlements in different parts of the county. The following figures from the last official census indicate the principal interests and the development of the county. There were 150 farms as compared with sixty-three in 1900, and about 24,000 acres were classified as "improved land" as compared with about 1,800 acres in 1900. The total area of the county is 562,560 acres, with 371,970 acres included in farms or ranches. The number of cattle was 30,685, and 3,180 horses and mules. In 1909, 7,520 acres were planted in hay and forage crops, 2,866 acres in kaffir corn and milo maize, 1,923 acres in wheat, 1,305 acres in oats, and 875 acres in corn. The assessed valuation of prop- erty in 1903 was $367,556; in 1913, $1,313,980, and in 1920, $1,900,484.
IRION COUNTY
This county for a number of years was under the jurisdiction and a part of original Tom Green County, and was detached and created a separate county in 1888 and a local government organized in April, 1889. It is a country in the Western Plains district, with limited rainfall, meager timber resources, and while there has been some development in the direction of agriculture, the chief interest for years has been live stock. Ten years ago it was said that half the total area of the county was held in two big pastures, but recent years VOL. II-22
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have witnessed a tendency toward the breaking up of such holdings and the introduction of better live stock, better methods, and some real agriculture.
In 1890, at the first census after the county was organized, its population was 870, and in 1900 there was a slight decrease from this small figure to 848; at the last census the population was 1,610. In 1910 the census reported ninety-four farms, as compared with fifty- two in 1900. In a total area of 638,720 acres, about 155,000 acres were occupied as farms. The total area of "improved land" in 1910 was 5,257 acres, as compared with 1,226 acres in 1900. Though a stock raising county, numerically the statistics are disappointing as com- pared with other counties in eastern sections where live stock is much less pronounced as a feature of economic wealth. In 1920 there were 18,648 cattle, 1,961 horses and mules, and 30,837 sheep. The chief crop acreage in 1909 was: Hay and forage crops, 1,374 acres includ- ing about 400 acres in alfalfa ; corn, 536 acres; kaffir corn and milo maize, 717 acres ; cotton, 707 acres; and oats, 322 acres.
One great improvement has come since 1910 in the extension of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad from San Angelo through the county, and through the influence of this transportation system a large number of new settlers have come in and the other familiar developments following improved transportation have occurred. The chief town of the county is the county seat, Sherwood, while Mertzon,. Monument and Suggs are other railway towns.
The increase of taxable wealth during the past ten years is illus- trated by the following figures: In 1903, $1,246,100; in 1909, $1,665,- 730: in 1913. $2,312,611 ; in 1920, $2,991,077.
JACK COUNTY
This county was created from the territory of Cooke County in 1856 and given a county government on July 7, 1857. Young County to the West marked the extreme limit of settlement before the war, and in 1860 Jack County was credited with a population of 1,688. It illustrates the retrogression of the war decade to compare that popu- lation with the figures for 1870, at which time the census gave the county a population of 694 inhabitants. All industry came to an end and the majority of settlers retired to the more secure localities within the secondary line of frontier defenses.
After the Civil war the Federal Government took steps to again afford protection to the frontier, and about 1867 established Fort Richardson, near Jacksboro in Jack County. In a few years the rapid advance of population made the holding of this position superfluous, and the buildings were deserted and soon went to ruin. A paragraph in a Fort Worth newspaper in 1878 said: "Fort Richardson, in Jack County, built in 1867-68, at a cost of nearly $800,000, is fast becoming a ruin, the buildings are falling, and altogether it presents a sorry appearance. This fort, during the years 1868, '69, '70, contained the largest garrison in the United States, General Sherman having his headquarters there for a time. The hospital, the original cost of which was about $143,000, is now a useless pile." The garrison and equipment were moved out to Fort Griffin in Shackelford County.
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Some of the conditions in the county during the '70s, as drawn from newspaper items and other sources, are described as follows : In the summer of 1876 the county was receiving little immigration. farmers were complaining of lack of markets, and the industrial devel- opment was perhaps slower than that of some of the surrounding counties. Jacksboro, the county seat, as one of the military towns of North Texas, had enjoyed somewhat of a boom and about this time was suffering from the reaction. A correspondent in 1876 said : "Jacksboro has improved but little for several years. The location of one of the military posts here in 1867 had the effect to add mater- ially to the town's trading importance as a trading post for the fron- tier settlers, but since the cessation of Indian hostilities the troops have nearly all been withdrawn, resulting in a perceptible decrease in prosperity. Colonel Woods is here in command of the skeletons of three companies of the Eleventh Infantry, which are barely enough to do post duty and preserve the Government property." Other interesting items about the town are found under date of February, 1877: "A big business was transacted here during the military days, but the trade is now supplied from the permanent settlers. The older buildings in the place are constructed of upright pickets, plas- tered with clay and surrounded with stockades built in the same way. The first settler is still here, T. W. Williams, a brother of 'Blue Jeans' Williams, present governor of Indiana." By the latter part of 1879 Jack County was said to have 10,000 population ; among its industrial enterprises were eight or ten cotton gins, grist and sawmills, brick yards, and seventeen churches and numerous schools were enumer- ated. At the same time Jacksboro had three churches, three three- story flour mills, and other business interests were improving in like proportions. Over in the western part of the county the beautiful Lost Valley, one of the most picturesque spots in Texas, its perfectly level floor being hemmed in by the rugged hills, was the abode of several well-known cattlemen during the '70s. M. G. Stewart had 10,000 acres in the valley, a fine dwelling, and his pasture was enclosed with a stone fence, showing a considerable departure from the usual methods of maintaining a stock farm. This valley was also the home of J. C. Loving and G. B. Loving, among the best known cattlemen of the state. The postoffice for this community was called Gertrude. and a stone church was another feature of the incipient center.
Some of the conditions of 1882 are reported as follows: At that time the county had one flour and five grist mills, all driven by steam The luxuriant grasses that covered the surface of the county gave the stockraisers a profitable business, and Jack County is still one of the important stock counties of North Texas. In 1882 the live stock. in round numbers, were 44,500 cattle, 8,500 sheep and goats, 6,300 horses and mules, and 9,000 hogs.
Jacksboro at that time was thirty-five miles from the nearest sta- tion on the Texas & Pacific Railway, and thirty-two miles from the nearest station on the Fort Worth & Denver City Railway, to which roads all cattle and other produce were sent. Besides Jacksboro the
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other villages in the county at that time were Post Oak, Newport and Lick Branch.
Jack County remained without a railroad until 1898, when a branch of the Rock Island from Bridgeport to Jacksboro was com- pleted, and in 1902 it was extended west to Graham. About 1912 the line of the Gulf. Texas & Western Railroad was built through the county to Seymour in Baylor County, and has since been extended to a junction with the Mineral Wells & North Western at Dalesville.
In 1870 Jack County had 694 inhabitants; in 1880, after settled conditions had obtained, the population was 6,626; in 1890, 9,740; in 1900, 10,224 ; in 1910, 11,817; in 1920, 9,209. The population of Jacks- boro in 1890 was 751; in 1900, 1,311, and in 1910, 1.480. Some of the older towns already mentioned have lost their prestige in favor of places on the railroad. Outside of Jacksboro most of the population is distributed in the country districts, and the statistics indicate that the chief interests of the population are agriculture and stock raising. In the northwestern part of the county some coal is mined. The value of taxable property in 1870 was assessed at $226,611; in 1882, $1,750,236, of which more than a third was represented by live stock ; in 1903, $3,303,400; in 1913, $7.058,130: in 1920, $8,056,230.
At the last census the number of farms in the county were 1,888, as compared with 1,475 in 1900. The total area of the county is 615,680 acres, of which 541,688 acres were in farms or ranches. The census reported 107,000 acres in "improved land," as compared with 83,000 acres at the preceding census. The stock interests were enum- erated as follows: Cattle, 40,879; horses and mules, about 8.500 ; hogs, 4,150.
JEFF DAVIS COUNTY
This county was part of Presidio County until 1887, when it was created and organized, and the county seat established at old Fort Davis. The troops of old Fort Davis did a valuable service many years in patrolling the border and guarding life and property against Indians and outlaws, but the post was abandoned by the Government in 1890. In the meantime a considerable settlement had grown up around the old fort, it had been the county seat of Presidio County from 1875, and though isolated from railroads it still retains its honors as the place of local government and also as one of the noted resorts of West Texas. In the vicinity of Fort Davis are the Davis Moun- tains, and at different points across the county are some of the highest mountain peaks in the South, many of them ranging between 4,000 and 6.000 feet in elevation, and several being over 8.000 feet. To the lover of wild and rugged scenery, and the hunter of big game, Jeff Davis County has long presented unrivaled facilities, and while old Fort Davis is off the beaten path of the ordinary tourist it attracts an increasing number of sportsmen and travelers to whom primitive nature makes a strong appeal. The greater part of the lands of the county are held in large tracts and owned by the state or railroad companies, and while the live stock industry assumes large propor- tions, agriculture has as yet been little developed. and only by irriga- tion methods. Thus far irrigation has been applied largely to
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orchards and small fields of alfalfa. These farms lie mostly in the valleys, and the water is supplied from artesian wells.
The population of Jeff Davis County in 1890 was 1,394; in 1900, 1,150; in 1910, 1,678, including 600 Mexicans.
The total area of the county is 1,448,320 acres, with about two- thirds occupied in ranches, and the last census reported 5,800 acres as "improved land," as compared with 1,170 acres in 1900. The number of farms or ranches in 1910 was ninety-one. In that year the cattle enumerated were 74,961; about 2,700 horses and mules, 4,667 goats. The crops were chiefly hay and forage crops, kaffir corn and milo maize and corn, and about 2,300 orchard fruit trees were mentioned in the statistics.
The valuation of property in the county in 1903 was $1,630,370; in 1913, $4,193,766; and in 1920, $4,600,488.
The only railroad in the county is the Southern Pacific, which crosses the western end, and the principal town along its route is Valentine. The Texas & Pacific just touches the north corner of the county.
JOHNSON COUNTY
The first settlements were planted in what is now Johnson County in 1852. The territory was then comprised within the jurisdiction of McLennan and Navarro counties, and by 1853 the population was sufficiently numerous to justify the creation of a new county. The legislative act of February 13, 1854, erected Johnson County, and the first election of county officers was held in the following April. In 1866 the western part of the county was detached to form Hood County, from which in turn was subsequently taken Somervell County. The first county seat was Wardville, located five miles west of the present city of Cleburne. In 1856 another county seat election was held, and a place called Bailey's, five miles northwest of Cleburne, was selected, and its name changed to Buchanan, in honor of the then President of the United States. Both of these old county seat loca- tions have long since ceased to be centers of population or trade. After the creation of Hood County the choice of a county seat was again before the people, and in 1867 the majority of votes were cast in favor of Camp Henderson, the permanent name of which was soon afterwards changed to Cleburne, in honor of the great general. The oldest town in the county is Alvarado, founded about 1853. The next in age is Grand View.
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