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Winkler County, Texas

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Formed From

  • Winkler County was created 1887 from Tom Green Green County and organized 1910. The county seat is Kermit. The county was named for Confederate Colonel Clinton M Winkler.[1]

Adjacent Counties

Northwest
"New Mexico"		 North
Andrews County		 Northeast
North arrow
West
Loving County		 West arrow Winkler County, Texas East arrow East
Ector County
South arrow
Southwest
 South
Ward County		 Southeast

History/Timeline

900 A.D. -Anasazi Indians - first people to leave traces of their existence in Winkler county area. Their discarded pottery gives this evidence. The water attracted them.[2]
Sept 25, 1849 Captain Randolph B. Marcy brought his soldiers into the area looking for the best wagon route to California. [2]
1854. Capt. John Pope surveyed the 32nd parallel, which separates Winkler County from New Mexico, for possible railroad construction.[2]
June 29, 1875 Col. William R. Shafter, with (81) men and officers, tracked the Comanche Indians
1876, all threat of Comanche attack was gone Winkler was ready for Settlers.[2]
1881 Railroad built lethal Texas and Pacific Railway across Ward county. Some Ranchers took advantage of free state land to form their large ranches.[2]
post 1881 ranchers were John Avary, J. J. Draper, and the Cowden brothers—Doc, Tom, and Walter.
Feb 26, 1887, Winkler County was established from territory split from Tom Green County. It was named for Confederate Col. Clinton M. Winkler.[2]
1890 Winkler county had 11 men, 7 women settlers in this county. [2]
1900:The State of Texas ended free use of its land. [2]
post 1900 - state agents were sent across West Texas to collect rents from ranchers on public land.
1900 Census showed twelve ranches, totaling 67,537 acres (273.31 km2) and 11,982 cattle being owned/operated by 4 owners and 8 non-owners. Population-60.. [2]
1901-1905 -Sale of School lands by state law allowed. With credit, a settler could purchase 4 sections of land. [2]
April 3, 1908. Post office was opened at Duval, located on the John Howe ranch, 1½ miles W of Kermit site . Duval town lots were widely promoted, Duval was competing with Kermit for county seat. Kermit townsite offered its lots free . The county residents chose Kermit to be County Seat. [2]
1908 post office opened at Joiel (1908-1910). Election citizens supported William Jennings Bryan.[2]
1910 -Duval faded, and the post office closed in 1910. School built in Hay Flat (1910-1913). Post office in HayFlat closed. April 5, 1910, Winkler County was organized. [2]
1916 drought,, families who came during the school-land rush gave up their farms.[2]
1920 - 81 people were here and 27 farms. Cattle increased to 13,000, other livestock decreased, (76 acres hay were harvested. Population declined. Public school and post office in Kermit were in the courthouse from 1924 -1926 to serve the few residents who remained in the area.
July 16, 1926, oil was discovered when Roy Westbrook and Company - the Hendrick No.1 on ranch land owned by Thomas G. and Ada Hendrick in central Winkler County. Newcomers lived in tents in Wink.[3]
Aug 20, 1927 Tulsa obtained post office opened at Tulsa, Winkler County, yet closed 1929. Leck started 5 miles W of Cheyenne with business and houses, then disappeared.[2]
1929 Brookfield, 1 1/2 mile SW of Wink with few stores, dance halls, post office 1929-1944, then closed.. Wink grew, Brookfield declined. Cheyenne began 9 miles N of Kermit. then dwindled long before the post office closed. Leck was 5 miles W of Cheyenne with business and houses, then disappeared.[2]
1930-- the oil boom brought an increase in population to 6,784. With the impact of oil and of the earlier drought, cultivation of crops continued to decline. 25 farms existed by 14 owners and 11 tenants. NO crops yet.. Cattle were 11,000 head.[2]
1950's population increased to 10,064 with agriculture still livestock production. [2]
1954- 36 farms 620,000 acres with 500 acres being farmed for crop.[2]
1959 County harvested $60,000 in crops in 1959. [2]
1960 population was 13,652 with 439 non white residents. [2]
1969 value of livestock reached $1.25 million by 1969 but dropped.[2]
1970 - oil industry declined in West Texas, Population in Winkler County dropped to 9,640.
1982. value of livestock was $1 million. [2]
1980 West Texas- dramatic oil boom with greatly increased drilling activity and an influx of new people in blue-collar jobs. The population became 9,944 residents. [2]
1990, population dropped to 8,626, of whom 3,172 were Hispanic. Most of the population lived in Kermit (6,875) or Wink (1,189). Winkler Count continued as an oil and ranching county.[2]
Part of the large Haley Ranch, founded by the father of Texas historian J. Evetts Haley, is in Winkler County, with another portion in neighboring Loving County.[2]

Government

1st Courthouse, 1910 - City: Kermit, 2-story with its own windmill on courthouse lawn.[4]

1910 courthouse

2nd Courthouse, 1929 - Architect: David S. Castle, Style classical Revival or Texas Renaissance, Texas Renaissance; Material - Brick". This courthouse was built with a sheriff's quarters and a jail on the fourth floor which was used until 1995." - Terry Jeanson Contractor: C.S. Oates and Son, Abilene. Photo: Charlene Beatty Beauchamp, 2001[4]

1929 Courthouse

Built in 1929-30 in response to the need for a larger courthouse after the discovery of oil in the county in 1926, this replaced a 1910 structure on the same site. Designed by architect David Castle, the four-story classical revival/beaux arts building features distinctive two-story classical columns, decorative double-door surrounds and transoms, and paired and triple windows on the second and third floors. A one-story addition was built in the 1950s.[4][5]

Geography

Area has shallow water table as observed by traces of pottery fragments of Anasazi Indians.
Winkler County is in the Big Bend Country area of Texas. It is a western county on the plains partly covered by sandy hills. Total area if the county is 841.3 sq miles , all of which is land. There are no lakes in the county. Annual rainfall is 13.09 inches and the mean temperatures range from a low in January of 28.9 degrees and a high in July of 96.9 degrees. Altitude ranges from 2,665 to 3,400 feet. The highest point in the county is Blue Mountain with an elevation of 3,400 feet above sea level. Time zone changes from Central to Mountain along the county's NW border with New Mexico.

Airports

  • Winkler County Airport, 3 miles NW of Wink

Hospitals

  • Winkler County Memorial Hospotal, Kermit

Major Highways

  • State Highway 18
  • State Highway 115
  • State Highway 302

Railroads

  • TNMR - Texas & New Mexico Railroad

Local Resources

Agriculture

  • Beef Cattle

Minerals

  • Natural Gas
  • Oil

Places of Interest

  • Wink Sink - large sink hole, Wink
  • Wooden Oil Derrick

Protected Areas

  • Monahans Sandhills State Park

Demographics

In 2000, there were 7,173 people, 2,584 households, and 1,969 families residing in the county. The population density was 8 people per square mile. There were 3,214 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was about 75% White, about 2% Black or African American, 0.45% Native American, 0.20% Asian, and about 21% from other races. 44% of the population were Hispanic.[6]

There were 2,584 households out of which 39.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62% were married couples living together, 10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24% were non-families. 22% of all households were made up of individuals and 11% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.18.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,591, and the median income for a family was $34,021. About 14% of families and 19% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17% of those age 65 or over.[7]


Politics

1912 through 1948, the county voted Democratic.
1950's County and country voted for Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower
Democratic presidential candidates won in 1960 and 1964,
1968 -1992 the county voted Republican.


Festivals

  • Roy Orbison Festival on June, Wink

Cities

Population as of January 1, 2014 is shown in parenthesis.

Kermit history and Special info

By Toni Orozco


  • Celebration Days in August, Kermit

Public


There are 5 public schools in Winkler County servings 1,841 students. Kermit Independent School District

Wink Independent School District

Census

Census

Census year Population
189018
190060
1910442
192081
19306.784
19406,141
195010,064
196013,652
19709,640
19809,944
19908,626
20007,173
201053, 330
2014 est.8,005

Notables

  • Roy Orbison
Jim "Razor" Sharp
Doug Smith (composer)
Lynn Stiles
Lane Turner
Jay Thomas
Del Thompson

Resources

Cemeteries

There are only 8 cemeteries in Winkler County.

  • Beckham Ranch Cemetery, Winkler County
  • Haley Ranch Cemetery, Kermit
  • Kermit Cemetery, Kermit
  • Old Wink Cemetery, Wink
  • Psalm 23 Cemetery, Kermit
  • Saint Joseph Cemetery, Kermit
  • Waddell Family Cemetery, Kermit
  • Winkler County Cemetery


Sources

  1. ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/topics/government/winkler-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 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winkler_County,_Texas
  3. ↑ http://texasalmanac.com/topics/business/history-oil-discoveries-texas
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://www.texasescapes.com/WestTexasTowns/KermitTexas/Winkler-County-Courthouse-Kermit-Texas.htm
  5. ↑ http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txwinkle/courthouse.htm
  6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winkler_County,_Texas
  7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winkler_County,_Texas




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