Cooke County

Cooke County, Texas

Cooke County, Texas

Cooke County Courthouse in the City of Gainesville, the county seat. Photograph by Larry D. Moore.
Cooke County, Texas

Cooke County, Texas

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

Cooke County is located in north central Texas, on the Oklahoma border. The approximate center of the county is at 33°40' north latitude and 97°15' west longitude. Gainesville, the county seat and largest population center, is located seven miles south of the Red River and seventy-one miles north of Dallas. The county comprises 905 square miles. The central section of the county is part of the Grand Prairie; it is flanked by a small section of the Eastern Cross Timbers on the east and the Western Cross Timbers on the West. The rolling terrain is surfaced by mixed soils ranging from sandy to loam and from red to black. Grassy prairie predominates in the west. The county is forested mainly with blackjack oak, post oak, and hackberry, and with elm, pecan, walnut, and cottonwood along the creeks and rivers. The altitude increases from 700 feet on the eastern border to nearly 1,000 feet in the west. The northern quarter of Cooke County drains into the Red River, and the remaining three-quarters is part of the watershed of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Three lakes are found within the county's boundaries: Lake Kiowa, Hubert H. Moss Lake, and Lake Texoma. A fourth lake, Lake Ray Roberts, dammed in Denton County, covers much of southeastern Cooke County. Temperatures range from an average high of 96° F in July to an average low of 32° in January. The average rainfall is about thirty-four inches a year. The growing season extends for 226 days.

Before the coming of Anglo-American settlement Cooke County stood on the borderlands between the Caddo Indians to the east and the Comanches in the west. The first Europeans to visit the county may have been Spaniards on expeditions during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, but no permanent settlements were made. The county was included in the Cameron land grant, a Mexican grant of 1828, but no settlers came.

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Robert Wayne McDaniel | © 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

Cooke County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

617 ft – 1217 ft

Size

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

  • Land Area: 874.8 mi²
  • Total Area: 898.4 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 31.3°F
July mean maximum: 93.4°F

Rainfall, 2019

42.7 inches

Population Count, 2019

41,257

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

19,584

Unemployment, 2019

7.6%

Property Values, 2019

$6,254,703,065 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$54,174 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$710,022,590 USD

Wages, 2019

$187,653,807 USD

Cooke County

Highlighted:
  • Cooke County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
Town
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Town
Town 3 (2009) Yes
Town 45 (2009) Yes
Town 320 (2021) Yes
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Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
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Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 12 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 150 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 17,576 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 13 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Lake Yes
Town 2,409 (2021) Yes
Lake Yes
Lake Yes
Town 20 (2009) Yes
Town 1,069 (2021) Yes
Town 10 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 12 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 600 (2009) Yes
Town 1,580 (2021) Yes
Town 382 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 253 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 22 (2009) Yes
Town
Lake Yes
Town
Town
Town 779 (2021) Yes
Town 75 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 36 (2009) Yes
Town 10 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 759 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town 45 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 250 (2009) Yes

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