Comanche County, Texas

Comanche County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in West Central Texas. In 2000, its population was 14,026. Comanche is named for the Comanche Native American tribe. The seat of the county is Comanche^[1].

History Timeline

• Among first inhabitants were the Comanche. ^[2]

• 1519-1685 Hernando Cortez and Alonso Álvarez de Pineda claim Texas for Spain.

• 1685-1690 France plants its flag on Texas soil, but departs after only five years. ^[3]

• 1821 Mexico claims its independence from Spain. Anglos from the north settle in Texas and claim Mexican citizenship.

• 1829, September 15 - Mexican President Vicente Ramon Guerrero, himself an ex-slave of Spanish, African and Native American descent, emancipates all slaves within the Republic of Mexico: ^{[4] [5]}

1st - Slavery is abolished in the republic.

2nd - Consequently, those who have been until now considered slaves are free.

3rd - When the circumstances of the treasury may permit, the owners of the slaves will be indemnified in the mode that the laws may provide. And in order that every part of this decree may be fully complied with, let it be printed, published, and circulated.

Given at the Federal Palace of Mexico, the 15th of September, 1829.

Vicente Guerrero To José María Bocanegra

• 1836

March 2 - Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico establishes the Republic of Texas.

March 6 - The Alamo falls.

April 21-22 - Battle of San Jacinto, Antonio López de Santa Anna captured.

May 14 - Santa Anna signs the Treaties of Velasco.

• 1845, December 29 -Texas Annexation by the United States

• 1846, May 13 - The United States Congress officially declares war on Mexico.

• 1848, February 2 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ends the Mexican-American War.

• 1854

Jesse Mercer and others organize a colony in future Comanche County on lands earlier granted by Mexico to Stephen F. Austin and Samuel May Williams. ^[6]

F. M. Collier builds the first log house in the county.

• 1856 The Texas legislature forms Comanche County from Coryell and Bosque counties. Cora community, named after Cora Beeman of Bell County, is designated as the county seat. ^[7]

• 1859 Comanche becomes the county seat. ^[8]

• 1860 County population is 709 persons, including 61 slaves.

• 1861

February 1 - Texas secedes from the Union

March 2 - Texas joins the Confederate States of America

• 1863, January 1 • The Emancipation Proclamation. ^[9]

• 1865

April 9 • Robert E. Lee formally surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House.

April 15 • President Abraham Lincoln dies of a head wound inflicted by assassin John Wilkes Booth.

June 19 • Major General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston to enforce the emancipation of all slaves. It is the first time African Americans in Texas know of the Emancipation. The date becomes celebrated annually in Texas as Juneteenth, and later as an official state holiday known as Emancipation Day. ^[10]

December 6 • The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits slavery.

• 1870, March 30 - The United States Congress readmits Texas into the Union.

• 1873 The Comanche Chief begins publication. Editor Joe Hill’s brother Robert T. Hill works on the newspaper while developing his esteemed career as a geologist. ^[11]

• 1874 May 26 • John Wesley Hardin and gang celebrate his 21st birthday in Brown and Comanche counties. Deputy Charles Webb ^[12] draws his gun provoking a gunfight that ends Webb’s life. A lynch mob is formed, but Hardin and his family are put into protective custody. The mob breaks into the jail and hang his brother Joe and two cousins. Hardin flees. ^[13]

• 1877 John Wesley Hardin is arrested on a train in Pensacola, Florida by Texas Rangers and a local authority while traveling under the alias of James W. Swain. Hardin is tried in Comanche for the murder of Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb, and sentenced to twenty-five years in Huntsville Prison.^[14]

• 1881 The Texas Central Railroad begins service in Comanche County and starts carrying cattle and cotton to market.

• 1890 Cotton becomes king in the county. By the turn of the Century the boll weevil devastates the county cotton industry for three decades.

• 1907 The county begins to experiment with peanut farming.

• 1918 Oil is discovered at Desdemona. ^[15]

• 1920

The peak year for the Comanche County oil boom.

More than 70,000 fruit trees are grown in the county.

• 1951-1952 A desperate drought-stricken county experiments with rain making.

• 1963 Proctor Lake is impounded to provide flood control and drinking water. ^[16]

• 1982 Comanche is second in Texas with a peanut production of more than 45,546,000 pounds.

The Great Depression era

Known for its fertile soil, Comanche County was a hotbed of political populism in the latter years of the 19th century. In the early 20th century, the Comanche region raised hogs, poultry, peanuts, watermelons, cantaloupes, and engaged in dairying. The area normally receives twenty inches of precipitation per year, but in the Dust Bowl of the Great Depression, drought conditions persisted. Farm products lost some 75 percent of their value during the depression, which the area state representative, Oscar Callaway, blamed primarily on the Federal Reserve System. Nearly 200 county families were on public relief, and area churches formed a private community chest for charity. Some sought employment as day laborers. Rabbits raided the peanut crop. Home canning saved many from total ruin. The county sought federal loans for water resources, civic buildings, and parks. At the time, none of the public schools in Comanche County even had a gymnasium. Ben Barnes, a lobbyist who was reared in Comanche County and formerly the former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and lieutenant governor, recalls how the Rural Electrification Administration in particular eased the plight of county residents. Despite the hardships, it was noted in 1934 that all downtown buildings in the county seat were in use, and a few additional businesses opened even as the depression continued. Like much of the rest of the nation, Comanche County nevertheless persevered through the hard times.^[17]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 948 square miles (2,454 km²), of which, 938 square miles (2,429 km²) of it is land and 10 square miles (25 km²) of it (1.05%) is water.T he county is located some sixty miles north of the geographic center of Texas.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 67/U.S. Highway 377
• State Highway 16
• State Highway 36

Adjacent counties

• Erath County (northeast)
• Hamilton County (southeast)
• Mills County (south)
• Brown County (southwest)
• Eastland County (northwest)

Demographics

As of the census^[18] of 2000, there were 14,026 people, 5,522 households, and 3,926 families residing in the county. The population density was 15 people per square mile (6/km²). There were 7,105 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.30% White, 0.44% Black or African American, 0.61% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 9.70% from other races, and 1.82% from two or more races. 20.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,522 households out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.20% were married couples living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 26.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.30% under the age of 18, 7.10% from 18 to 24, 23.30% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, and 20.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 95.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,422, and the median income for a family was $34,810. Males had a median income of $26,094 versus $18,912 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,677. About 13.90% of families and 17.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.60% of those under age 18 and 16.00% of those age 65 or over.

Local media

Two newspapers have offices located in Comanche County: The Comanche Chief and The De Leon Free Press. Comanche County is part of the Abilene/Sweetwater/Brownwood television viewing area. Local television stations include: KRBC-TV, KTXS-TV, KXVA, KTAB-TV, and KIDU-LP. One other television station provides coverage for Comanche County: KCEN-TV from the Waco/Temple (Central Texas) DMA. Although Comanche County is part of the Abilene/Sweetwater/Brownwood DMA residents who have satellite television services in the county are only allowed to view the Dallas/Fort Worth market stations.

Communities

Cities and Towns

• Comanche, Texas
• De Leon, Texas
• Gustine, Texas

Unincorporated areas

• Beattie, Texas
• Comyn, Texas
• Energy, Texas
• Downing, Texas
• Duster, Texas
• Hasse, Texas
• Lake Proctor, Texas
• Lamkin, Texas
• Newburg, Texas
• Proctor, Texas
• Promontory Park, Texas
• Rucker, Texas
• Sidney, Texas
• Sipe Springs, Texas
• Vandyke, Texas

References

1. ^ . National Association of Counties. . Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. ^ Handbook of Texas, Comanche County [1]
3. ^ The Six National Flags of Texas [2]
4. ^ The Magnificent Life of Vicente Ramon Guerrero [3]
5. ^ TAMU Chieftans of Mexican Independence [4]
6. ^ Handbook of Texas, Samuel May Williams [5]
7. ^ Texas Escapes, Cora [6]
8. ^ Handbook of Texas, Comanche [7]
9. ^ Government documents, Emancipation Proclamation [8]
10. ^ Cinnamon Hearts Juneteenth [9]
11. ^ Handbook of Texas, Robert T. Hill [10]
12. ^ Brown County Sheriff, Officer Down Memorial [11]
13. ^ Marohn, Richard C. 1995. The Last Gunfighter: John Wesley Hardin. College Station, TX: Creative Publishing Company. p. 320.
14. ^ Texas Archival Resources Online, A Guide to the John Wesley Hardin Collection [12]
15. ^ Texas Escapes, Desdemona [13]
16. ^ TPWD Proctor Lake [14]
17. ^ Don Holdridge, University of Texas of the Permian Basin in Odessa, Texas, "Surviving the Great Depression in Comanche County, Texas", West Texas Historical Association, annual meeting in Fort Worth, February 27, 2010
18. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.

External links

• Comanche County in Handbook of Texas Online at the University of Texas
• Comanche County Telephone [Comanche County Telephone]
• The Comanche Chief Newspaper
• The De Leon Free-Press Newspaper

Coordinates: 31°57′N 98°34′W / 31.95°N 98.56°W

Categories: Texas counties | 1856 establishments | Comanche County, Texas xalpha();