Motley County, Texas

... ... ... is a part of Texas history. Join: Texas Project Discuss: Texas

• Texas Space Page
• The leader of this project is: Mary Richardson.

History/Timeline

1891 Jail

• Motley County was formed 1876 out of the Bexar District and organized in 1891. It is named for Dr. J.W. Mottley, a signer of Texas Declaration of Independence (however the name was misspelled in legislative statute)^[1]

1800s Comanches of the Wanderers, Liver-Eaters bands hunted buffalo, game before white settlement.^[2]

1870-76 - Indians displaced by army Indian campaign.^[2]

1876-Motley County was created 21 August 1876 from Bexar Land District, Matador -county seat. It was named for Dr. Junius William Mottley, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, aide to General Rusk at the Battle of San Jacinto (mortally wounded). It was attached to the Crosby County area for judicial purposes^{[3] [2]}

1870s buffalo hunter, Ballard established a supply station at the Ballard spring.^[2]

mid-1870s Frank Collinson was commissioned by Samuel R. Coggin to bring 8,000 of John S. Chisum's cattle to build 1st ranch,. Collinson had known the country as a buffalo hunter in 1874.

Aug 21, 1876 Motley County was created from Young and Bexar counties. It was organized on February 5, 1891. ^[4]

1878 and 1891--The first settlers arrived in 1878. The first settlement was Matador in 1891..^[3]

1878 Henry H. Campbell, first owner of Matador Ranch bought cattle from Collinson and others for his Matador Land and Cattle Company. ^[2]

Matador Ranch headquarters

1882 - 1951 Matador Ranch established in Motley and 5 surrounding counties by a syndicate from Scotland. ^[4]

1890 the county had 13 ranches, 30,225 acre. The census reported 42,781 cattle. ^[2]

1890 - first school was established near Whiteflat in 1890 -W. B. Clark as teacher. It was called Whiteflat, due to tall white needlers on the prairie. To establish Motley as county, General Land Office required a county seat to have 20 businesses, so Matador Ranch employees had opened temporary stores stocked with ranch supplies to create 20 businesses.. ^[2][4]

1890s friction between settlers and the managers of the Matador Ranch, who tried to control the county government. ^[2]

1891 Jail

1891 - A 2-story jail was built 1891. Jails were on 2nd floor with the jailer's living quarters on 1st floor.. The jail remained a symbol of Motley County's frontier heritage. The jail is undergoing renovation for historic preservation purposes as a symbol od Motley county heritage.^[4]

1891 1st courthouse was built, but burned later.. ^[4]

1894 the Matador Ranch candidates won their usual offices.^[2]

1900 when the settlers' majority sufficient for non friction elections. substantial. By that year there were 209 ranches and farms in the county, and though the area continued to be dominated by ranching, crop farming was becoming established. The agricultural census reported 85,497 cattle that year, while corn culture occupied 944 acres and cotton was grown on ninety-five acres. The census counted a population of 1,257 that year.^[2]

1910- 373 farms and ranches in Motley County. Crop raising was an important part of the economy. The agricultural census counted 65,773 cattle that year; corn grown on 4,100 acres, sorghum on 4,500, and cotton on 12,000. ^[2]

1913-1936 the eight-mile long Motley County Railroad was chartered with money from 90 investors. It ran through unfenced ranch lands, then joined Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway at Roaring Springs. ^[4]

1914 Farming in the county expanded when the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railroad completed laying tracks through the county. 60,000-acre parcel of the Matador Ranch was put up for sale to prospective farmers and other settlers. ^[2]

1919 money contributed by the Matador and county citizens financed the Motley County Railroad, (8) miles between Matador and Matador Junction. ^[2]

1920-1930s Number of farms and ranches grew to (537 by 1920, population 4,107; 21,500 acres cotton) and (910 by 1930, population 6,812; 87,000 acres cotton and 2,742 acres corn, 3,450 acres wheat, 29,000 chickens and 77,000 dozen eggs.). ^[2]

1922-1946 School was 2 story brick and served as community gathering place. ^[4]

1927 -1991, Dr. Albert Carroll Traweek, Sr., established the Traweek Hospital, which was turned over to the county in 1991,is the Motley County Historical Museum.^[4]

Great Depression and the Dust Bowl Cotton production plunged; by 1940 only about 35,000 acres in cotton, cropland harvested was down to 86,000 acres in 1940.^[2]

1940- the Matador Ranch borrowed $500,000 from the Southwestern Life Insurance Company. Farmers in the county left their lands, tenant farmers dropped to 282 by 1940. ^[2]

1940-1990 Due to mechanization of agriculture, population of the county continued to decline.^[2]

1944--Motley County Courthouse, built about 1904, was destroyed by fire Sept 1944. No vital records were lost, but some were damaged by water.^[3]

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm20

Government Offices

2nd Courthouse, 1904

1904 courthouse painted on fabric.

1904 courthouse

• Courthouse Fire

courthouse.

Geography

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm20

Motley County, in the Rolling Plains region of NW Texas.

Center is at 34°03' north latitude and 100°45' west longitude, 80 miles NE of Lubbock. :Named for Junius William Mottley, (d in the battle of San Jacinto (a spelling error was made when the county was named.)

Size: sparsely settled county - 959 square miles

Terrain - rough, broken terrain drained by the North Pease, Middle Pease, and South Pease rivers and their tributaries.

Elevations range 1,928 and 3,034 feet above sea level.

Location - lies just below the Caprock.

Soils - sand, black and red clay, mixed or not mixed with sand.

Rainfall is 20.35 inches.

Temperature is 26° F in January, and the average maximum is 96° in July.

Growing season lasts 218 days. T

Agriculture production - $14 million from agriculture, half from beef cattle, horses and half from cotton, peanuts, wheat, guar, and other grains.

1980s 95% of land was in ranches and farms; 13% was cultivated, and 9% was irrigated.

1990 the county produced 304,500 barrels of crude oil.

Highways U.S. Highway 62/70 runs east to west; State Highway 70 -major route N to S.

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm20

Adjacent counties

• (Hall County (north)
• Cottle County (east)
• Dickens County (south)
• Floyd County (west)
• Briscoe County (northwest)
• King County (northwest)

Protected areas

• Quitaque Creek

Demographics

In 2000, there were 1,426 people residing in the county with a population density of 1 people/sq. mi.. The racial makeup of the county was 87.38% White, 3.51% Black or African American, 0.63% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 6.31% from other races, and 1.89% from two or more races. 12.13% of the population were Hispanic. The median income for a household in the county was $28,348, and the median income for a family was $33,977. Males had a median income of $25,395 versus $13,333 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,584. About 13.90% of families and 19.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.30% of those under age 18 and 13.80% of those age 65 or over.

Motley is a dry county.

NEWSPAPERs
A weekly newspaper has been published in Matador since 1891, variously named the Maverick, Gusher, News, Tribune, and Messenger; since 1985 it has been known as the Motley County Tribune

Politics-
Motley County supported Democratic candidates in each presidential election between 1892 and 1948; the only exception occurred in 1928, when they supported Republican Herbert Hoover over Catholic Democrat Al Smith. In elections between 1952 and 1992, however, the county usually supported Republican presidential candidates. The only exceptions occurred in 1956, when a majority of county voters supported Adlai Stevenson; in 1964, when they supported Lyndon B. Johnson; and in 1976, when they supported James E. Carter.

• mid-1980s Motley County was one of sixty-two Texas counties still legally dry.( Many Panhandle counties were dry for many years]

Highways:

• Highway 62/U.S. Highway 70
• Texas 70.svg State Highway 70

Library:

The Motley County Library has been housed since 1986 in the Moore Building, a brick structure constructed in 1916 after a fire swept through downtown Matador and destroyed wooden frame buildings. The Moore Building was previously a grocery store and a butcher shop. The library had been within the Matador school facilities until a tornado struck in 1984. With the help of a Meadows Foundation grant, the Moore Building was renovated so that it could house the library. An adjacent library annex building is used for storage, as a genealogical room, and for meetings and social events.

Town

• Matador (county seat)
• Roaring Springs

Unincorporated communities

• Flomot

Ghost towns

• Tee Pee City
• Whiteflat

Formed From

• 1876--Motley County was created 21 August 1876 from Bexar Land District.

County Resources

• Newspaper clippings
• Moore and Criswell families
• TXGen Genealogy

Census

1880 --- 24 —

1890 --- 139 479.2%

1900 --- 1,257 804.3%

1910 --- 2,396 90.6%

1920 --- 4,107 71.4%

1930 --- 6,812 65.9%

1940 --- 4,994 −26.7%

1950 --- 3,963 −20.6%

1960 --- 2,870 −27.6%

1970 --- 2,178 −24.1%

1980 --- 1,950 −10.5%

1990 --- 1,532 −21.4%

2000 --- 1,426 −6.9%

2010 --- 1,210 −15.1%

Est. 2015 --- 1,148

Notables

County Events and Resources

• April stock show at Matador,

adj. counties.

• Annual old settlers' reunion at Roaring Springs
• Game preserve for antelope and deer.
• Hunters - search of quail, doves, deer, pheasants, aoudad sheep, and antelope.

• List original land owners

Cemeteries

• Category: Motley County, Texas, Cemeteries

• Tombstone transcription, cemeteries
• Motley county Cemeteries Gloria Mayfield
• FindaGrave cemeteries

Sources

1. ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/index.php?q=topics/government/motley-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 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16} https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm20
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Motley_County,_Texas_Genealogy
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motley_County,_Texas

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quitaque_Creek