Palo Pinto County

Palo Pinto County, Texas

Palo Pinto County, Texas

Closer view of the old Oran Post Office.
Photograph Credit: Robert Plocheck.
Palo Pinto County, Texas.

Palo Pinto County, Texas

View of the historical markers for Charles Goodnight and Black Springs in Palo Pinto County, Texas.
Photograph Credit: Robert Plocheck.
Palo Pinto County, Texas.

Palo Pinto County, Texas.

Map showing Palo Pinto County, Texas. Map Credit: 1907 Postal Map, #2090, Courtesy of the Texas General Land Office via TexasEscapes.com.
Palo Pinto County, Texas.

Palo Pinto County, Texas

Map of Palo Pinto County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Palo Pinto County is in north central Texas, bounded on the east by Parker County, on the south by Erath County, on the west by Stephens County, and on the north by Young and Jack counties. The center of the county lies at 32°45' north latitude and 98°18' west longitude, eighty miles west of Fort Worth. The area is named for one of its principal streams. The county covers 948 square miles of broken, hilly land with sandy, gray, and black soils; elevations range between 800 to 1,450 feet above sea level. The county has an average annual rainfall of 30.13 inches and is drained by the Brazos River. Timber in the area includes cedar, oak, and pecan. Temperatures range from an average low of 33° F in January to an average high of 96° F in July; the growing season lasts 221 days. During the 1980s the county's annual agricultural yield was $12.5 million, 90 percent of which was from livestock, including cattle, sheep, angora goats, and hogs. Pecans, peaches, vegetables, grains, and hay accounted for the rest. Clay pipes, aircraft systems, plastics, electronic products, brick, feeds, clothes, and other products manufactured in the county earned an average annual income of $43.4 million. In 1982 oil sales of 364,350 barrels yielded $8.4 million. Major highways include U.S. Highway 180, which runs west to east across the county; Interstate Highway 20, which crosses the southeast corner; and State highways 16 and 108, which run north to south.

William A. A. (Bigfoot) Wallace surveyed the frontier in 1837 and may have been the first White in the area that is now Palo Pinto County. The original settlers in the region, including Oliver Loving, Charles Goodnight, and Reuben Vaughn, established cattle ranches there in the mid-to-late 1850s. These pioneers had Indian neighbors who raised corn and grain to supplement their game hunting; there were six groups of Indians, numbering 1,000 people, living along the Brazos in 1850. Though Vaughn and other early settlers apparently cultivated friendships with the Indians, as more Whites moved into the region the relations between the two peoples became strained, particularly because of the senseless aggression of some Whites. The Brazos Indian Reservation, founded in 1854, held destitute bands from several tribes-Delawares, Shawnees, Tonkawas, Wichitas, and Caddoes. All Indian depredations, whether perpetrated by free Comanches or Kiowas passing through the region or by reservation Indians from Indian Territory, were attributed by terrified settlers to Indians from the Brazos reservation. White settlers retaliated against reservation Indians, and racial tension and violent incidents increased. According to pioneer Henry Belding, reservation Indians became hostile "because a lot of cowards from Erath County had found a party of Indians camped near Palo Pinto and attacked...and killed squaws and children and men...[T]heir dastardly act cost the lives of many good citizens." Violence followed, and in 1856 the Texas Rangers rounded up the Indians and moved them to two reservations established in Young and Throckmorton counties. The removal did not end the conflict, however, for settlers complained that reservation Indians continued to steal cattle, and some settlers threatened to attack the reservations. Eventually the Indians were removed from their Brazos reservation to Oklahoma, while settlers flocked in along the old Fort Worth-Fort Belknap road.

Continue Reading

John Leffler | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Palo Pinto County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

782 ft – 1530 ft

Size

Land area does not include water surface area, whereas total area does

  • Land Area: 951.8 mi²
  • Total Area: 985.5 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 32.2°F
July mean maximum: 95.5°F

Rainfall, 2019

32.1 inches

Population Count, 2019

29,189

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

13,256

Unemployment, 2019

8.2%

Property Values, 2019

$4,466,912,294 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$39,125 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$353,713,228 USD

Wages, 2019

$101,779,888 USD

Palo Pinto County

Highlighted:
  • Palo Pinto County
Loading...
Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 16 (2009) Yes
Town 173 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 18 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 474 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town 685 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Lake Yes
Town
Town 110 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 6 (2009) Yes
Town 14,902 (2021) Yes
Town 230 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 89 (2009) Yes
Town 61 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 173 (2021) Yes
Town 15 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Lake Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 88 (2009) Yes
Town 308 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 549 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town

Proud to call Texas home?

Put your name on the town, county, or lake of your choice.


Search Places »