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Knox County, Texas

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Welcome to Knox County, Texas Project!


Contents

History

Henry Knox.
  • Knox County created from the Bexar, Young territories in 1858; re-created in 1876; then organized in 1886. Knox County was named for Henry Knox, the secretary of war in George Washington's first cabinet..[1]
Feb 1, 1858 Knox created from Young Territory; KNOX not fully organized. (Texas Laws 1857, 7th leg., ch. 75, sec. 18/p. 90)[2]
14 Feb 1860 KNOX attached to YOUNG "for all judicial purposes." (Texas Laws 1859, 8th leg., reg. sess., gen., ch. 87, sec. 5/p. 120)[2]
1865 [by 1865; possibly by 1861-1862] YOUNG disorganized, ending attachment of KNOX to YOUNG. ("Young County," New Handbook of Texas, 6:1131; "Kimmarle & Hirsh v. Houston & Texas Central Railway," in Texas Rpts., 76:690-691)[2]
Oct 11, 1866 KNOX attached to YOUNG "for judicial purposes." (Texas Laws 1866, 11th leg., ch. 35, sec. 17/p. 27)[2]
Nov 6, 1866 KNOX detached from YOUNG, attached to JACK "for judicial and other purposes." (Texas Laws 1866, 11th leg., ch. 96, sec. 1/p. 94)[2]
Aug 10, 1870 KNOX detached from JACK, attached to MONTAGUE "for judicial purposes." (Texas Laws 1870, 12th leg., called sess., ch. 40, sec. 13/p. 53)[2]
KNOX lost land to creation of KING; KNOX boundaries redefined to reflect creation of KING. (Texas Laws 1876, 15th leg., ch. 144/pp. 238, 240)[2]
Apr 23, 1879 KNOX detached from MONTAGUE, attached to CLAY "for judicial and other purposes." (Texas Laws 1879, 16th leg., reg. sess., ch. 136/p. 150)[2]
1880 only 3 farms/ranches were operating with 77 residents. Settlers came in larger numbers between 1880 and 1900. [3]
Feb 25, 1881 KNOX detached from CLAY, attached to BAYLOR "for judicial purposes." (Texas Laws 1881, 17th leg., reg. sess., ch. 18, sec. 2/p. 12)[2]
1880 Several ranchers, including Robert B. Masterson, Tom (William Thomas) Waggoner, W. R. McFadden, and J. C. Teague, had large ranches in all or part of the county. [3]
1882 Robert D. Goree, a cattleman to Northwest Texas opened up the land to agriculture by encouraging people from older states and other Texas counties to move into Knox County. [3]
1884 Benjamin founded by Hillary Bedford, naming it for his son. To attract additional settlers, Bedford gave his stockholders a 50 acre tract of land and set aside 40 more acres for a town square. [3]
Mar, 1886 KNOX organized, detached from BAYLOR. (Knox County History Committee, 17)[2]
1886 The county was organized in 1886, with the town of Benjamin, founded by Bedford as county seat. The first courthouse, a small box-and-strip building, was replaced by a native stone structure.[3]
Jun 30, 1887 KING detached from BAYLOR, attached to KNOX "for judicial purposes." (Texas Laws 1887, 20th leg., reg. sess., ch. 98, sec. 8/p. 81)[2]
1887 Goree established a small settlement named after himself at Riley Springs n the SE area.
1888 2nd courthouse was built of native stone.[3]
Mar3, 1891 KNOX lost land to creation of FOARD. (Texas Laws 1891, 22d leg., reg. sess., ch. 15/p. 17)[2]
Jun 25, 1891 KING fully organized, detached from KNOX. (Kennedy, 119)[2]
1895 a colony of German Catholics established Rhineland a few miles away. [3]
1890 there were 76 farms/ranches in the county, 1500 acres in corn production[3]
1900 there were 366 farms/ranches on 449,000 acres with 39,400 cattle, and 7,300 acres corn, 13,188 acres wheat and 2,135 acres cotton. [3]
1900 population was2,322 by 1900.[3]
1905 Wichita Valley Railroad entered county[3]
1907 Kansas City, Mexico and Orient line entered county.[3]
1910 Farms/ranches- 1,175, population was 9,625, corn on 25,000 acres, cotton on 36,000 acres, wheat also.[3]
1910 33,000 fruit trees mostly peach were planted, with 41,000 fowlon farms.[3]
1910-1920 some early settlers left, number of farms were 1,037 in 1920, the corn and wheat gave way to cotton: 1919 had 53,645 acres planted in cotton.[3]
1930 cotton was on 130,247 acres, 1,460 farms, 11,368 people.. [3]
Great Depression and Dust Bowl hit farmers hard. Cotton production dropped 50%, only 980 farms were left by 1940. [3]
1946 the county's first successful oil well was spudded on the Beavers Ranch, N of Benjamin. Other wells were drilled in S part of county.[3]
1948 oil production was only thirty-seven barrels[3]
1956 oil reached 978,715, and in 1960, almost 2,415,000. County oil wells produced 2,065,000 barrels
1965-1982 County oil wells produced 2,065,000 barrels, 771,089 barrels in 1974, and 1,421,964 barrels in 1982. [3]
1990 Production totaled about 888,000 barrels in 1990, and by January 1, 1991, almost 55,881,000 barrels had been taken from Knox County lands since discovery in 1945.[3]



Waggoner Ranch

1871 -Waggoner Ranch - located in Archer, Baylor, Foard, Knox, Wichita, and Wilbarger counties, size 524,000 acres, PRIMARY USE cattle, quarter horses Waggoner Ranch - W.T “TOM” Waggoner and father began their ranching by leasing acreage in Texas. Soon they leased thousands of acres.. By the time W.T. died in 1934,the Ranch was the largest contiguous piece of ranch land in the USA, 524,000 acres spread over 6 counties, and a single fence! In his will, Waggoner specified not to divide the ranch. Half of the Ranch is owned by Electra Waggoner Biggs (86 year old)and her children and grandchildren. The other half is owned by Albert B "Buck" Wharton III (age 51 and a cousin.. The two owners have feuded over management of the ranch for 20 years, yet live in separate houses, located on the west side of the ranch property.[4]

Government Offices

There have been 3 courthouses. 1)1886, 2) 1888 and 3 ) 1936

1st County Courthouse of 1886 no image
2nd County Courthouse, 1888

This photo of the sandstone 1888 Knox County courthouse is displayed in the first floor hallway of the current courthouse along with other vintage photos, artifacts and county memorabilia." - Terry Jeanson This grand courthouse was demolished prior to building the new 1936 County Courthouse.[5]

1888Knox county courthouse in 1891.
1888 photo of Knox county courthouse.
3rd Knox County Courthouse - Style - Moderne, Material - Stone, 3 story, modern style. It has an Eagle carved over entry way. Knox County courthouse eagle

Photo Courtesy Barclay Gibson, 2008[5]

1935 Benjamin, Knox County, Texas

Geography

  • The Narrows- narrow crest running east-to-west along a hogback dividing the watershed of the Wichita River in north from the Brazos River in south. Rain falling to the north of the crest will flow into the Wichita River, and thence into the Red River and ultimately the Mississippi,but rain falling in south will flow into the Brazos and then directly into the Gulf of Mexico.
https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hck11
Location Knox County is in the Rolling Plains region of NW central Texas
Center point is 99°45' west longitude and 33°35' north latitude, 75 miles N of Abilene.
Named for Henry Knox, the secretary of war in George Washington's first cabinet.
Size -Knox County 854 square miles of level to rolling, mesquite-covered plains, dissected by hilly ranges and eroded breaks
Altitude 1,401 to 1,646 feet above sea level.
Rivers/Creeks drained by the North Wichita River along its N border, by the South Wichita and Upper Brazos rivers, which cross the county.
Soil, black waxy to sandy loam, are good for both farming and stock raising.
Temperatures minimum of 28° F in January to maximum of 98° in July.
Rainfall is 24.64 inches
Growing season lasts 217 days.
Railroads - Two railroad lines, owned by the Santa Fe and Burlington Northern companies, serve the county
Highways - two U.S. highways (82 and 277), three State highways (6, 114, and 222) and several farm-to-market roads.
humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hck11

Adjacent Counties

  • Foard County (north)
adjacent counties
  • Baylor County (east)
  • Haskell County (south)
  • King County (west)
  • Stonewall County (southwest)

Formed From

  • 1858--Knox County was created 1 February 1858 from Fannin Land District and organized in 1886

State protected areas

Demographics

  • 2010 census, its population was 3,719.

In 2000, there were 4,253 people residing with a population density of 5 people/sq mi. The racial makeup of the county was 74.35% White, 6.91% Black or African American, 1.08% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 14.77% from other races, and 2.56% from two or more races. 25.09% of the population were Hispanic

The median income for a household in the county was $25,453, and the median income for a family was $30,602. Males had a median income of $25,571 versus $20,865 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,443. About 17.10% of families and 22.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.20% of those under age 18 and 15.20% of those age 65 or over.

Benjamin, Knox County Jail
  • Agriculture products - cotton, wheat, grain sorghums, guar (a forage crop), and truck crops, which accounted for a large part of the $23 million farm income averaged annually between 1980 and 1988.
  • During the 1985–86 season, the county's four active cotton gins processed 21,982 bales of cotton.
  • Beef cattle and sheep are also important factors in the county's agricultural income.[6]


Highways

  • U.S. Highway 82/State Highway 114
  • U.S. Highway 277
  • Texas State Highway 6
  • Texas State Highway 222

EDUCATION The following school districts serve Knox County:

  • Benjamin ISD
  • Crowell ISD (mostly in Foard County; small portion in King County)
  • Knox City-O'Brien Consolidated ISD (partly in Haskell County)
  • Munday Consolidated ISD (small portions in Haskell and Throckmorton counties)
  • Seymour ISD (mostly in Baylor County)
  • The Town of Knox City is served by the Knox City-O'Brien Consolidated Independent School District.
  • Dry County
  • county hospital and a United States Department of Agriculture plant-materials research center are located in Knox City


Politics- Knox County - In national presidential elections between 1952 and 1992 Knox County voted Republican only twice, in 1972 (Richard Nixon) and 1984 (Ronald Reagan). The remainder it voted Democrat.

Cities

Town

Knox City (population 1,130)

Unincorporated communities

  • Rhineland
  • Truscott
  • Vera

Things to do/see

  • The city of Goree in Knox County is the site of the annual Bobby Boatright Memorial Music Camp, an event for aspiring Western Swing musicians of all ages to showcase their musical talents. The camp's namesake was a fiddle player who was originally from Goree. The camp was profiled in a story that aired on July 21, 2010 on National Public Radio's Morning Edition program.[7][8]

Resources

  • Several small reservoirs near Benjamin provide recreation.

Census

1880 --- 77 —
1890 --- 1,134 1,372.7%
1900 --- 2,322 104.8%
1910 --- 9,625 314.5%
1920 --- 9,240 −4.0%
1930 --- 11,368 23.0%
1940 --- 10,090 −11.2%
1950 --- 10,082 −0.1%
1960 --- 7,857 −22.1%
1970 --- 5,972 −24.0%
1980 --- 5,329 −10.8%
1990 --- 4,837 −9.2%
2000 --- 4,253 −12.1%
2010 --- 3,719 −12.6%
Est. 2015 --- 3,860

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox_County,_Texas

Notables

Orville Bullington
Kay Adams, country singer, was born in Knox City
Texas photographer Wyman Meinzer lives in Benjamin

Cemeteries




Sources

  1. ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/index.php?q=topics/government/knox-county
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/TX_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hck11
  4. ↑ http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-biggest-ranches/
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Benjamin/Knox-County-Courthouse-Benjamin-Texas.htm
  6. ↑ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hck11
  7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_swing
  8. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox_County,_Texas




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