USA > Texas > Tarrant County > Fort Worth > History of Texas : Fort Worth and the Texas northwest edition, Volume II > Part 38
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In 1860 Johnson County had a population of 4,305, some of whom lived in what is now Hood and Somervell counties. In 1870 the popu- lation was 4,923; in 1880, following a decade of great development, the population was 17,911; in 1890, 22,313; in 1900, 33,819; in 1910, 34,460; and in 1920, 37,286.
The county was without railroad facilities until the '80s. The Fort Worth-Temple division of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe was completed in December, 1881; the Missouri, Kansas & Texas was built at the same time, and in 1882 was opened the Cleburne-Dallas branch of the Santa Fe, originally known as the Chicago, Texas & Mexican. In 1887 the Santa Fe constructed its line from Cleburne
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to Weatherford, and in 1888 the Fort Worth & Rio Grande was built through the extreme northwest corner of the county. The Trin- ity & Brazos Valley opened its line from Cleburne to Mexia in 1904.
Within the present decade an interurban line has been built from Fort Worth to Cleburne, known as the Northern Traction Company of Fort Worth.
Since the first railroads were built the county has developed rap- idly, and with the exception of some lands in the western part of the county all the big ranch holdings have disappeared, and Johnson now ranks as one of the best agricultural and stock farming counties of North Central Texas. Farm lands rank with the very best in the state. Of a total area of 473,600 acres, the last census indicated that about 430,000 acres were occupied as farms. and about 250,000 acres
POSTOFFICE, CLEBURNE
in "improved land." Government statistics indicate a well diver- sified condition of farming, with an appropriate balance between stock raising and the cultivation of staple crops. In 1910 there were 18,942 cattle in the county ; 14,775 horses and mules ; 8,999 hogs, and 123,654 poultry. In 1909 the cotton acreage was 110,692; corn, 15,088; hay and forage crops, 7,190; peanuts, 1,129; over 1,600 acres in potatoes, sweet potatoes and other vegetables; with oats and wheat as minor crops. The county is also in the fruit belt, and the last census enum- erated 139,000 trees in orchards fruits. The value of taxable prop- erty in the county in 1870 was $1,888,955; in 1882, $4,875,128: in 1903, $9,096,310; in 1913, $22,356,735; and in 1920, $24,288,040.
Aside from the old towns of Alvarado, Grand View and Cleburne, nearly all of the important centers of population sprang up with the advent of the railways.
Cleburne, the county seat, is a modern, progressive city, with water works, street railway, other public improvements, and a number
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of commercial and manufacturing enterprises. Its largest single resource is the Santa Fe Railway shops. The population of Cleburne in 1890 was 3,278; in 1900, 7,493; in 1910, 10,364, and in 1920, 12,820. Alvarado, the pioneer town, had a population in 1890 of 1,543; in 1900, 1,342; in 1910, 1,155; in 1920, 1,284. Grand View's population in 1910 was 1,018, having been credited with only about 250 inhabi- tants twenty years before. Other towns are Venus, Rio Vista, Burle- son, Godley, Joshua, Keene, Lillian and Cresson.
CLEBURNE
Cleburne is the county seat of Johnson County and was founded in 1867, when the county seat was moved from Buchanan, about six miles north of Cleburne, and was named in honor of.Gen. Patrick Cle- burne, a distinguished officer of the Confederate Army.
JOHNSON COUNTY COURT HOUSE, CLEBURNE
Cleburne has a population of 12,820, assessed valuation of $11,536,- 350, the taxation rate is 89 cents on the $100. It is on the main line of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe and the Trinity Brazos Valley rail- ways, and on a branch of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas from Egan. nine miles in length, and has a connection with Fort Worth by the interurban railway.
It is famous for its well equipped schools, modern churches and fine private homes. The court house, postoffice and school buildings are all modern and substantial structures. There are about twenty churches within the city limits, representing all of the Protestant denominations, and a small Catholic church. It has a public library, to which Andrew Carnegie contributed $20,000, which is a tasteful and ornamental structure completed in 1905. It is supported by taxation and now contains about 10,000 volumes, besides magazines and period- icals. The city of Cleburne claims to have the largest school popu-
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lation and the most money invested in school property of any town of its size in the United States. The public schools are under the supervision of Mr. Emmett Moore, with twenty-five teachers.
One and a half miles from the city is the Cleborro College under the auspices of the Christian church. There are three national banks, with total resources of $7,089,626, with deposits aggregating $6,111,- 081. One state bank, total resources $1,665,483, with deposits of $1,539,646.
Among the industries of the city are two flour mills, four gins, one oil mill, one peanut plant, a large iron foundry, planing mill, cot- ton compress, broom factory, a sweet potato curing plant and two ice factories. The shops of a division of the Santa Fe Railroad are located in Cleburne, the payroll of which is about $225,000 per month.
ECE
FEELEF
HIGH SCHOOL, CLEBURNE
There are about 1,700 people employed by the several railroads. The city is supplied with electric light by the Fort Worth Power & Light Company, and with natural gas by the Lone Star Gas Company. The city is blessed with an abundance of pure artesian water from nine wells, one of which is over 1,500 feet deep. It has the usual complement of mercantile houses, a modern fire department and an active Chamber of Commerce with 200 members. It is on the Merid- ian Highway from Colorado to the gulf.
Other towns in Johnson County are: Grandview, Venus, Lillian, Burleson, Joshua and Godley.
Venus is situated on the east edge of Johnson County in fine black land territory, has two good banks, fine brick schools, substantial churches and a population of about 2,000 people.
Lillian is on the International & Great Northern Railroad in the northeast corner of the county, at the edge of the cross timbers, and is a town of about 1,000 people.
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Burleson, situated in the north edge of the county, near the Tar- rant County line, enjoys fine school facilities and has two good banks. Joshua, located eight miles north of Cleburne, on the Santa Fe Railway, is a town of about 1,500 inhabitants.
Godley, on the Weatherford branch of the Santa Fe, in the north- west part of the county, is a town of about 1,500 people.
ALVARADO
Alvarado was established in 1854. The town site was donated by W. Balch. It was named by Abe Onstott, first sheriff of Johnson County, in honor of a brave Spanish officer by the name of Alvarado, who fought with the Texans in the Mexican war.
The present population is 1,284, and the assessed valuation is $1,118,000.
It has a large three-story brick high school building with an enroll- ment of 500 pupils. There are two banks, the First National, which is the oldest national bank in the county, and the Alvarado State Bank. There is a cotton seed oil mill of large capacity, a custom grist mill, five cotton gins, a mattress factory and an ice plant, also the usual complement of mercantile houses.
Alvarado is at the junction of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railways and two state highways, the Colorado to Gulf and the Dallas to Glen Rose roads. It has a good system of water works and electric lights, and a survey is now being made for a sewer system.
Alvarado is situated on the east side of the cross timbers, where sand lands prevail, and on the east the rich black lands stretch out into Dallas and Ellis counties.
JONES COUNTY
The limits of Jones County were assigned by the Legislature in 1858, but there was hardly an inhabitant who could be classed as a permanent settler until about the beginning of the '70s. The county was organized June 13, 1881. That date corresponds with the time of con- struction of the Texas & Pacific Railway through Taylor County on the south, and Jones County thus lies within the belt of territory largely developed through that pioneer West Texas Railroad. The county had no railways until the present century, and until a few years ago was an almost exclusively stock raising country. The rapid increase in popu- lation and the building of railroads have provided markets for farm products and have made profitable the production of cotton and other staple crops and also the growing of vegetables and fruits.
In 1880 Jones County had a population of 546; in 1890, 3,797; in 1900, 7,053; in 1910, 24,299; and in 1920, 25,293. The increase was over three hundred per cent during the first decade of the present century. In 1900 the first railroad, the Texas Central, was completed to Stamford. The second railway in the county was a portion of the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient, which by 1905 had been completed from Sweetwater into Haskell County, crossing the northwest corner of Jones County. In 1905 the Wichita Valley Railroad Company was incorporated to con-
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struct a line from Seymour south to Stamford. About the same time the Abilene & Northern Railroad began construction from Abilene north, and the two lines were connected at Stamford in 1907. Subsequent extensions of these railroads have given Jones County a large mileage, all of which has been laid since the beginning of the present century.
It has been during the railroad era that the county has developed its chief towns. No town had a separate enumeration in 1900, and the principal center of population was Anson, the county seat, which had first been called Jones City. The chief shipping point was Abilene, over in Taylor County. In 1910 the chief towns with population were : Stam- ford, 3,902; Hamlin, 1,978, and Anson, 1,842. Other villages are Avoca, Lueders, Hawley and Tuxedo. These are all located on the various lines of railway.
Stamford, the chief city, is noted for the progressiveness of its citizens and for its public improvements. It has thirty-four blocks of brick paving, being the first town between Fort Worth and El Paso to lay brick paving, and thirty blocks of excellent gravel paved streets; fine public buildings, business houses and residences. A number of industries are successfully conducted, and it is also a center for West Texas educational institutions. In 1899 a town site company was organized to anticipate the construction of the Texas Central west from Albany, which had been its terminus for nearly twenty years. The first sale of town lots was made in Stamford in January, 1900, and the first railway train arrived in the town on February 8th of the same year. An independent school district was at once organized, a public school building erected, a city hall in 1903, and in a few months the town furnished banking, hotel, shipping and general facilities to its large surrounding trade territory. Latterly the public plaza was given a postoffice building in the center, costing $60,000, and the rest of the plaza has been made into a flower garden. The city has recently built a $30,000 city hall and is soon to vote bonds for a $100,000 high school building.
Property values were assessed in 1882 at $701,524; in 1903, at $2,837,850, in 1913, $12,191,525; in 1920, $14,895,370. The general economic development since 1900 is indicated by the returns of the last census. There were, in 1910, 2,907 farms as compared with only 820 in 1900. Of the total area of 590,080 acres about 495,000 acres were included in farms or ranches in 1910, and about 246,000 acres were classified as "improved land," a larger amount than was found in some of the older counties in the eastern section of the state. The amount of "improved land" in 1900 was 78,000 acres. The live stock interests found at the last enumeration were: Cattle, 15,970; horses and mules about 14,900; hogs, 9,796. In 1909, 110,458 acres were planted in cotton; 36,049 acres in kaffir corn and milo maize; 12,463 acres in hay and forage crops ; 4,078 acres in corn, 1,792 acres in wheat ; 2,252 acres in peanuts ; and a limited acreage in oats, potatoes, sweet potatoes and other vegetables. About 40,000 orchard fruit trees were enumerated. In 1919 Jones County raised 72,000 bales of cotton, being the second county in cotton production in the state. These statistics give this county a very favorable comparison with not only the counties in the same area, but with those in older and more favored sections of the state. Con-
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sidering that the substantial development of the county began about twenty years ago, Jones County has been one of the most rapidly pro- gressive counties in all Northwest Texas.
Stamford, Texas, the metropolis of Jones County, has just attained its majority, being twenty-one years of age. It was named for Stamford, Connecticut, the home of Henry G. McHarge, who was the moving spirit in the construction of the Texas Central Railroad.
The first business in Stamford was the hardware firm of Penick Hughes Co. The first bank was named the First National Bank, estab- lished by R. V. Colbert and associates, Mr. Colbert still being the head of the institution. The well-known progressive spirit of Stamford started with the birth of the town, the first Chamber of Commerce having been organized in a tent, with R. L. Penick as president. A commercial organization of some sort has been maintained since that time.
The city has grown steadily, and correctly boasts of never having had a boom. Its enterprise and civic improvement has attracted nation-wide interest because it has been a leader in this respect. It was the first city in Texas west of Fort Worth to construct brick pavements, and at present has thirty-two blocks of such pavements and forty-two graveled. It leads in another respect in that its Chamber of Commerce and munici- pal authorities have always worked in harmony. It made an advance step recently along this line by forming an interlocutory arrangement in which it selected a city manager, with practically all offices combined in the same, said city manager being the chairman of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce, this completing the interlocutory arrangements.
The population of Stamford, according to the census of 1920, was 3,700, but the scholastic census belied these figures, because there is en- rollment of 1,051 in the scholastic population. It has a taxable valuation of 3,136,880 dollars. Its most forward step of recent years has been to vote a half million dollars for water works system, the supply to come from the Brazos River, eighteen miles distant, and when the system is completed it will be competent to impound more than two billion gallons of water, which will not only be an adequate supply of water for a town of Stamford's size but one of 25,000 people, and at the same time furnish irrigation for several thousand acres of land. All of the possibilities that can come from the system already outlined will be utilized, and the question of conservation and irrigation in the Stamford section will be a realization.
The city is now planning to enlarge its independent school district to comprehend more than one hundred sections of land, and when this is completed it will take the place of a junior college.
Stamford has all of the public service corporations, and they are maintained in a satisfactory manner. It has five railway outlets, with five passenger trains going each way daily ; has more miles of sidewalks and more blocks of paving than any city of its size in the state, and its progressiveness in all things has become a matter of comment through out the country.
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KENT COUNTY
This county, situated near the southern edge of the Staked Plains, was created August 21, 1876, and the county government organized November 8, 1892. The upper courses of the Brazos River traverse it, and much of its surface is broken land. Although the number of farmers is increasing each year, live stock raising on the ranches is the chief occupation of the people. A number of the larger tracts have been divided into farms. Fourteen miles west of Clairement, the county seat, oil has been discovered, and another important source of wealth is gyp- sum, a plant for the manufacture of cement plaster being in operation at Jayton, which is the largest town of the county. Jayton is located on the line of the Stamford & Northwestern division of the Wichita Valley Railroad, which was constructed across the northwestern corner of the county about 1909.
The population of the county at successive decades has been: In 1880, 92 ; in 1890, 324 ; in 1900, 899; in 1910, 2,655. The total valua- tion of property in 1903 was $1,212,173; in 1913, $2,375,317; and in 1920, $5,158,115.
The last census enumerated 18,158 cattle, and 2,256 horses and mules. Aside from stock raising the agricultural development up to 1910 was limited. The total area of the county is 560,000 acres, and while nearly all was included in farms or ranches in 1910, only about 27,000 acres were classified as "improved land," and about 6,000 acres were so classified in 1900. The number of farms in 1910 was 326, as compared with 134 in 1900. The chief crops in 1909 were: Cotton, 5,182 acres; kaffir corn and milo maize 1,858 acres ; hay and forage crops, 1,856 acres, and corn, 1,271 acres. About six thousand orchard fruit trees were enumerated.
KING COUNTY
Situated near the foot of the Staked Plains, and on the headwaters of the Wichita and Brazos Rivers, King County is still isolated from railways, and its prairies and broken surface has for many years fur- nished sustenance to thousands of head of stock. While in recent years farming has made some progress in competition with the predominant industry, the markets are still too distant to furnish much incentive to agriculture except in supplying forage for stock.
King County was created August 21, 1876, and was organized June 25, 1891. Its population in 1880 was 40; in 1890, 173; in 1900, 490; in 1910, 810, and in 1920, 355. The county seat and principal town is Guthrie, while one or two other small places are located in the county.
In 1910 the Federal census reported 34,952 cattle in King County ; about 2,500 horses and mules, and the pasturing of cattle on large ranches has for a number of years been the characteristic business of the county. There were 107 farms in 1910, as compared with 53 at the preceding census. The total area of the county is 554,880 acres, and 417,023 acres were included in the ranches and farms in 1910. The progress of agriculture is indicated by the amount of "improved land," which in 1900 was about 1,600 acres, and in 1910 about 9,000 acres. In 1909, 2,918 acres were planted in cotton; 1,644 acres in corn, and 813
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acres in kaffir corn and milo maize. About four thousand orchard fruit trees were enumerated. In 1903 the assessed value of property in the county was $1,082,420; in 1913, $1.768,098, and in 1920, $1,740,017.
KNOX COUNTY
The railroads and other factories which have been operating in recent years to develop Haskell County have also been working to break up the large ranches and promote the building of towns and the establish- ment of agriculture on a permanent basis in Knox County. Knox County, created in 1858, was organized March 20, 1886. A few stockmen had found their way into this section during the late '70s, and in a few years the buffalo had been driven out and domestic cattle were grazing over the rolling prairies and along the valleys of the Wichita and Brazos Rivers, both of which streams have their courses through this county. At this time the ranchman occupy and own the greater part of the lands, but the influx of agricultural settlers has been particularly rapid since two railroad lines were finished. 1904 the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Road was built through the county from south to north and put in oper- ation by 1905. In 1907 the Wichita Valley Railroad was built across the southeastern corner of the county. Along the line of the first rail- way are the towns of Knox City, Benjamin, the county seat, and Truscott. On the Wichita Valley is Munday, probably the largest town in the county, and Goree.
The population of the county in 1880 was only 77; in 1890, 1,134 ; in 1900. 2,322; in 1910, 9,625, and in 1920, 9,240. The assessed value of property in 1903 was $1,919,672; in 1913, $6,259.477 ; in 1920, $6,638,- 681. In 1909 the presence of twenty cotton gins, a cottonseed oil mill. a flouring mill, a dairy and other smaller establishments indicate the chief productive activities of this section. There were in 1910, $1,175 farms and ranches, as compared with 366 in 1900. The total area of the county is 551,680 acres, of which 520,450 acres were occupied in farms in 1910. and 142,000 acres were "improved land" as compared with about 46,000 acres at the preceding census. The census reported 27,331 cattle ; about 9,100 horses and mules; 5,146 hogs. The crop acreage in 1909 was: Cotton, 36,219 acres; corn, 24,870 acres; wheat, 13,188 acres; oats. 8,023 acres; hay and forage crops, 7,620 acres; kaffir corn and milo maize, 3,878 acres; about 350 acres in potatoes, sweet potatoes and other vegetables ; and about 33,000 orchard fruit trees.
LAMB COUNTY
Lamb County lies directly west of Hale County, was created in 1876 and was organized in June, 1908, with Olton as the county seat. In 1911 the Texico-Coleman branch of the Santa Fe Railroad was built across the county, leaving Olton to one side, and several other stations have since been established along the line. The railroad has opened up the land for agricultural settlement, but it is still strictly a cattle county, and the greater portion of its area is included within large ranches. The surface is quite level, except where broken by three tributaries of the Brazos River, and it is devoid of timber except the groves planted by ranchmen. Excellent results have been obtained by the few farmers
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who have recently settled, and the staple crops of the Panhandle region have been successfully grown.
At the census of 1890 Lamb County had a population of 4; in 1890, 31, in 1910, 540 and in 1920, 1,175. The total area of the county is 654,000 acres. About 14,000 acres were classified as "improved land" at the last census, as compared with 370 acres in 1900.
There were five farms in 1900 and ninety-two in 1910. The county's prominence as a cattle district is indicated by the statistics for 1910. enumerating 40,355 cattle and about 1,300 horses and mules. In 1920 the number of cattle was 42,000 and of horses and mules, 2,052. In 1909 an acreage of 5,048 was planted in hay and forage crops, and a small amount of land in corn, kaffir corn and other crops. Fruit grow- ing has made some progress, and at the last census about 2,700 orchard fruit trees were enumerated. The valuation of property in the county in 1913 was $3.187.014 and in 1920, $6,179,186.
OLTON
Olton is the county seat of Lamb County. Its population is about 800. It has a brick school house, with five teachers and one hundred and fifty pupils, a union church edifice and one mercantile house. The other towns in the county are Littlefield on the Texico-Coleman branch of the Santa Fe and Farwell on the Littlefield holdings. The latter town has one bank, one church, five brick business houses, a $20.000 hotel. a two-story brick school house. Its population is 700.
LIPSCOMB COUNTY
Lipscomb County occupies the northeast corner of the Panhandle. and is bounded on two sides by the State of Oklahoma. In earlier years what was known as No Man's Land of Indian Territory lay on the north, and the Cherokee strip of Indian Territory on the east. Until about 1890 no white settlements were permitted in these adjoining sections, and that was a fact which seriously impeded the settlement not only of Lipscomb County, but of other sections of the Panhandle. It was the building of the Southern Kansas Railroad across that section of Oklahoma and into the Panhandle in 1887 that more than anything else influenced immigration and settlement. Beginning with the rail- road era, Lipscomb County advanced from a population of only 69 in 1880 to 632 in 1890, and in 1887 county government was organized. The population of the county in 1900 was 790, in 1910, 2,634, in 1920, 3,634. The assessed wealth of the county in 1903 was $1.223,525, in 1913, $3,616,250, in 1920, $4,983,150. The county seat town is Lipscomb, near the center of the county and on Wolf Creek, which, with its tribu- taries, breaks the surface into numerous valleys and has furnished water for stock purposes since the range was first occupied by cattlemen. Another small settlement in the northwest part of the county is Kiowa, but the chief town is Higgins, in the southeast corner, on the line of the Santa Fe Railroad.
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