Wilbarger County Almanac
Location,
location, location :
| Wilbarger County is located on the Red River near the
base of the Texas panhandle.
It was
established in 1858 from lands formerly assigned to the Bexar District. Though
the area was within the boundary of the Peters colony, because of Indian
hostilities it attracted no settlers until 1878, when the first settlement was
made and the county was attached to Clay County for judicial purposes. Wilbarger
County was organized in 1881 with 50 settlers, and the town of Vernon was designated the county
seat. |
Located in the Central
Time Zone (-6 hours from GMT)
Geographically :
Land area : 971.06 square
miles
Water area : 7.0 square miles with 28 lakes
Highest elevation : 1470 feet at Farmers Valley
Climactically Speaking :
|
Notice to Wilbarger County residents:
If the weather
conditions being reported in the weather box to the right indicate
severe weather or weather warnings, the blue bar at the top will turn
red. Please click to detailed forecast information, radar images,
and travel information. |
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For a full page of current weather in
Wilbarger County directly from
the National Weather Service, click here. |
Temperature averages in Wilbarger County for a one
year period.
(Averages are taken from 30 years of temperatures between 1961 and 1990.)
| |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
|
°C |
3.7 |
6.6 |
11.5 |
17.2 |
21.7 |
26.5 |
29.1 |
28.3 |
23.9 |
17.7 |
11.0 |
5.2 |
16.8 |
|
°F |
38.7 |
43.9 |
52.7 |
63.0 |
71.1 |
79.7 |
84.4 |
82.9 |
75.0 |
63.9 |
51.8 |
41.4 |
62.2 |
Temperature averages in
Wilbarger County in separate categories for one year (all in Fahrenheit) :
| |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year
|
| Average Maximums |
52.9 |
57.7 |
67.3 |
76.6 |
84.0 |
91.9 |
97.2 |
96.1 |
87.3 |
77.4 |
64.9 |
55.0 |
75.7 |
| Average Minimums |
24.8 |
30.0 |
37.9 |
49.3 |
58.3 |
67.3 |
71.6 |
70.0 |
62.6 |
50.2 |
38.3 |
27.9 |
48.9 |
Rainfall in the county averages 25.30 inches per year compared
to the Texas average of 21.0 inches per year.
| |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Inches |
1.1 |
1.2 |
1.6 |
2.2 |
4.3 |
3.2 |
1.9 |
2.0 |
3.2 |
2.5 |
1.3 |
1.1 |
25.7 |
The average growing season in Wilbarger county is 221 days with the average
first freeze generally occurring around Nov 7. Texas is so climatically diverse
that statewide averages are irrelevant as a means of comparison, however the
winter of 1898 to 1899 was its coldest on
record.
Some interesting facts :
 |
Wilbarger County was named after brothers Josiah and Mathias Wilbarger. However,
these brothers settled near Bastrop (in Bastrop County) around 1830, and the
family never lived in Wilbarger County. |
|
|
Ned Green drove the
first car in Texas on October 5, 1899. It took five hours to make the trip from Dallas to
Terrell, a 6-mph average. |
|
|
On March 7, 1901 the
bluebonnet became the state flower. |
And we grew ...
Current population density is 15.1 persons per square
mile. The
average density in Texas is 65.6 persons per square mile.
|
County Population |
| Census 1850: |
0 |
| Census 1860: |
0 |
| Census 1870: |
0 |
| Census 1880: |
126 |
| Census 1890: |
7,092 |
| Census 1900: |
5,759 |
| Census 1910: |
12,000 |
| Census 1920: |
15,112 |
| Census 1930: |
24,579 |
| Census 1940: |
20,474 |
| Census 1950: |
20,552 |
| Census 1960: |
17,748 |
| Census 1970: |
15,355 |
| Census 1980: |
15,931 |
| Census 1990: |
15,121 |
| Census 2000: |
14,676 |
And we were important, impressive, and
notable :
As the herds were drive north the
vicinity of Wilbarger was regarded as an ideal resting place for the stockman
and cowboy. The fine grasses and abundance of pure water made it a
favorite place in the progress of cattle from Texas to the northern pastures or
the northern markets.
In 1882 the county's taxable property was assessed at $582,283; in 1903
values had risen to $3,815,973, and in 1913 to $11,466,140.
In 1885, Wilbarger County, in one
of its most prosperous years saw 300,000 head of cattle, 200,000 head of sheep
and 192,000 head of horses pass through Doan's Crossing on the Great Western
cattle trail.
Before 1890, the Fort Worth &
Denver City Railway ran across the northern half of the county.
During the '90s a branch of the
Frisco Railway was constructed across Red River into Wilbarger County, with
Vernon as its terminus.
In 1905 the Kansas City, Mexico &
Orient Railway was opened from Sweetwater to the Red River, passing through the
northwest corner of this county.
The 1910 census showed that Wilbarger had a
larger proportion of cultivated land than many of the older counties of the
state. The total area is 593,920 acres, of which 411,936 acres were
reported in farms or ranches. Of this amount about 202,000 acres were
classified as "improved land," as compared with 116,000 acres in 1900.
There were 1,435 farms in 1910, against 636 in 1900. The stock interests
at the last census were: cattle, 17,325; horses and mules, about 10,400; hogs,
10,504, and poultry, 53,110. The largest crop was corn, to which 62,550
acres were planted in 1909; 55,077 acres in cotton; 19,625 acres in wheat;
10,997 acres in oats; 6,122 acres in hay and forage crops; 2,185 acres in kafir corn and milo maize; about 750 acres in
potatoes, sweet potatoes and other vegetables; while about 18,000 orchard fruit
trees were enumerated. In comparison with many other counties of the state
Wilbarger had a high rank as an agricultural country.
And just because...
Did you know? A ten-gallon hat holds three-quarters of a gallon.
