Carson County

Carson County, Texas

Carson County, Texas

Historical Marker detailing Carson County's founding, Carson County, Texas. Photograph by unknown.
Carson County, Texas

Carson County, Texas

Map of Carson County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Carson County, in the center of the Panhandle and on the eastern edge of the Texas High Plains, is bounded on the north by Hutchinson County, on the west by Potter County, on the south by Armstrong County, and on the east by Gray County. Carson County was named for Samuel P. Carson, the first secretary of state of the Republic of Texas. The center of the county lies at roughly 35°25' north latitude and 101°22' west longitude. The county occupies 900 square miles of level to rolling prairies surfaced by dark clay and loam that make the county almost completely tillable and productive. Native grasses and various crops such as wheat, oats, barley, grain sorghums, and corn flourish. The huge Ogallala Aquifer beneath the surface provides water for people, crops, and livestock. Trees, usually cottonwood, oak, or elm, appear, along with mesquite, in the county's creekbottoms. Antelope and Dixon creeks, both intermittent streams, run northward from central Carson County to their mouths on the Canadian River in Hutchinson County. McClellan Creek, also intermittent, runs eastward across the southeastern corner of the county to join the Red River. Carson County ranges from 3,200 to 3,500 feet in elevation, averages 20.92 inches of rain per year, and varies in temperature from a minimum average of 21° F in January to a maximum average of 93° in July. The growing season averages 191 days a year.

Prehistoric hunters first occupied the area, and then the Plains Apaches arrived. Modern Apaches followed them and were displaced by Comanches, who dominated the region until the 1870s. Spanish exploring parties, including those of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado in the 1540s and Juan de Oñate in the early 1600s, crisscrossed the Texas Panhandle, but it is not known if they traversed Carson County. American buffalo hunters penetrated the Panhandle in the early 1870s as they slaughtered the great southern herd. The ensuing Indian wars, culminated by the Red River War of 1874, led to the extermination of the buffalo and the removal of the Comanches to Indian Territory. The Panhandle was thus opened to settlement. Carson County was established in 1876, when its territory was marked off from the Bexar District.

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Donald R. Abbe | © 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

Carson County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

2926 ft – 3595 ft

Size

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

  • Land Area: 920.2 mi²
  • Total Area: 924.1 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 20.3°F
July mean maximum: 92.2°F

Rainfall, 2019

21.8 inches

Population Count, 2019

5,926

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

2,828

Unemployment, 2019

5.0%

Property Values, 2019

$2,026,986,480 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$46,373 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$97,290,026 USD

Wages, 2019

$101,765,729 USD

Carson County

Highlighted:
  • Carson County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
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Town 20 (2009) Yes
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Town 2,337 (2021) Yes
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Town 394 (2021) Yes
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Town 904 (2021) Yes
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