Shackelford County

Shackelford County occupies 887 square miles of north central West Texas. The county seat, Albany, lies nearly in the center of the county, at 32°44' north latitude and 99°18' west longitude, about thirty-five miles northeast of Abilene. At an altitude ranging from 1,200 to 2,000 feet, the county lies on surface rock of Permian limestone, covered by two to fourteen inches of loamy clay topsoil. The northwest corner contains a strip of vegetation-locked blow sand one mile wide and twenty-five miles long. The eastern part of the county belongs to the Cross Timbers geographic region, and the western portion to the Lower Plains. The Clear Fork of the Brazos River crosses the northwest corner of the county, flowing northeast into Throckmorton County, then reentering at the northeast corner and exiting southeast into Stephens County. A number of Shackelford County creeks are tributaries of the Clear Fork. Temperature extremes range from an average January minimum of 31° F to an average maximum of 97°. The mean annual temperature is about 64°, and the annual rainfall averages 26.57 inches. The growing season is 224 days long. Originally open prairie, Shackelford County now consists predominantly of mesquite and chaparral savanna. Along the river and the creeks, pecan, elm, cottonwood, and hackberry trees mingle with mulberry and willow. Prickly pear and other cacti are common in the prairie sections. The land and its waterways also support populations of white-tailed deer, bobcats, opossums, raccoons, and smaller mammals. Great blue herons and kingfishers fish the streams; wild turkeys, roadrunners, and a variety of songbirds inhabit the uplands.

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.