Montague County

Montague County is in north central Texas on the Oklahoma border. The county seat, also named Montague, is 100 miles northwest of Dallas. The county's center lies at approximately 33°30' north latitude and 97°30' west longitude. Most of Montague County's 937 square miles lies in the region known as the western Cross Timbers, in which the dominantly light colored, sandy, and loamy soils support a post oak savannah. A small portion of the northwestern part of the county lies in the north central prairie, where the soils are dominantly dark colored and loamy and support grass. In the extreme east central part of the county lies the Grand Prairie Land Resource Area. There dominantly dark colored, loamy, and clayey soils support grass. The terrain of the county is level to gently rolling with broad valleys and high rolling prairies. The elevation ranges from 850 to 1,318 feet. A belt of woodland fifteen miles wide, known as the Upper Cross Timbers, runs north and south through the county and contains post oak interspersed with pecan, walnut, and blackjack trees. Three watersheds drain Montague County. The Red River drains the northern part of the county and has the largest drainage area of the three watersheds. The Denton-Elm Fork of the Trinity River drains the east-central portion of the county, and the West Fork of the Trinity River, which rises in Young County, drains the southern part. Between 41 and 50 percent of the land is considered prime farmland. The growing season extends 229 days, and rainfall averages thirty to thirty-five inches a year. Temperatures during the year range from an average high of 96° F in July to average low of 32° in January. Mineral resources produced by the county are petroleum and natural gas.

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