Terry County

Terry County, Texas

Terry County, Texas

The Terry County Courthouse is housed in Brownfield, Texas. Photograph by Aualliso.
Terry County, Texas

Terry County, Texas

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

Terry County, on the southern High Plains of West Texas, has an area of 899 square miles and an elevation of 3,100 to 3,600 feet. The county center lies at 38°10' north latitude and 102°21' west longitude, forty miles southwest of Lubbock. The primary roads are U.S. highways 62/82, 385, and 380 and State Highway 137. The land is level, broken by draws and playas with sandy loam soils. There are no rivers or streams, and drainage is through draws, which form the upper watershed of Sulphur Springs Creek. Sand hills dominate the northeast corner of the county. The average annual rainfall is 17.21 inches. The average minimum temperature in January is 26° F; the average maximum in July is 93°. The growing season averages 206 days. Agricultural profits average $63 million annually, 90 percent from cotton. The county is among the state leaders in cotton production and had twenty-one gins in 1971 to process 103,514 running bales produced during that season. Sorghums are also produced, and cattle and hogs are raised. Most of the county's 144,000 acres of irrigated land is planted in cotton. Manufacturing accounts for an income of $4.5 million annually in irrigation equipment, carbon black, fertilizers, and process minerals. In 1982 nearly 14.5 million barrels of oil valued at $451 million and some sodium sulfate were produced.

The area that is now Terry County includes lands granted by Mexico to Stephen J. Wilson in 1826 and John Charles Beales in 1832, but the Texas Revolution prevented any settlement on grant lands of West Texas. The land had been a hunting ground for Comanches and other Indians who preyed on the great herds of buffalo in the area, but buffalo hunters depleted the herds during the early 1870s. Terry County was demarked from Bexar County in 1876 and named for Col. Benjamin Franklin Terry, who commanded the Eighth Texas Cavalry (Terry's Texas Rangers) in the Civil War. It was attached to Young County until 1881, when Throckmorton County took over its judicial affairs. In 1883 administration was vested in Howard County, and in 1889 it was transferred to Martin County. The county began to be settled by Whites in the 1890s, when the state offered ten-year leases on school lands for grazing cattle. Terry County was organized in 1904, with Brownfield as its seat of government.

Continue Reading

William R. Hunt, 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

Terry County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

3080 ft – 3600 ft

Size

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

  • Land Area: 888.8 mi²
  • Total Area: 890.9 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 26.9°F
July mean maximum: 92.4°F

Rainfall, 2019

19.6 inches

Population Count, 2019

12,377

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

4,711

Unemployment, 2019

9.1%

Property Values, 2019

$1,277,696,805 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$32,062 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$207,870,193 USD

Wages, 2019

$41,581,783 USD

Terry County

Highlighted:
  • Terry County
Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
Town
Town 8,916 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town 6 (2009) Yes
Town 6 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 592 (2021) Yes
Town 7 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 6 (2009) Yes
Town 8 (2009) Yes
Town 224 (2021) Yes

Proud to call Texas home?

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


Search Places »