Archer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,560. Its county seat is

Archer City Archer City is a city in and the county seat of Archer County, Texas, United States. The city lies at the junction of State Highway 79 and State Highway 25. It is located 25 miles (40 km) south of Wichita Falls, and is part of the Wichi ...

. It is part of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area.

History

In 1858, the Texas Legislature established Archer County from portions of Fannin County, Texas, and it organized in 1880. It is named for

Branch Tanner Archer Branch Tanner Archer (December 13, 1790 – September 22, 1856) was a Texan who served as Commissioner to the United States and Speaker of the House of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives and Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas. ...

, a commissioner for the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (2.4%) are covered by water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 82 *

U.S. Highway 277 U.S. Route 277 (US 277, US-277) is a north–south United States Highway that is a spur route of U.S. Route 77. It runs for 633 miles (1,019 km) across Oklahoma and Texas. US 277's northern terminus is in Newcastle, Oklahoma at Inter ...

U.S. Highway 281 U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. At it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route. The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, at t ...

* State Highway 25 * State Highway 79 *

State Highway 114 The following highways are numbered 114: Canada * New Brunswick Route 114 * Prince Edward Island Route 114 Costa Rica * National Route 114 Germany * Bundesautobahn 114 (A114) India * National Highway 114 (India) Japan * Route 114 (Japan) ...

Adjacent counties

* Wichita County (north) * Clay County (east) *

Jack County Jack County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,472. Its county seat is Jacksboro. The county was created in 1856 and organized the next year. It is named for P ...

(southeast) * Young County (south) *

Baylor County Baylor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,465. Its county seat is Seymour. History In 1858, the Texas Legislature established Baylor County, naming it for Henry Weidner Baylor, ...

(west) * Wilbarger County (northwest)

Geology

Archer County is part of the Texas Red Beds, which are

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...

of red-colored sedimentary rock from the

Early Permian 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * '01 (Richard Müller album), 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * 01 (Son of Dave album), ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * 01 (Urban ...

. One of the most prominent red-bed fossil sites in the county is the Geraldine Bonebed. The fossils of Permian-period vertebrates in the Texas Red Beds were first discovered by

Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested ...

in 1877. Subsequent research has revealed rare fossils of Permian period amphibians such as '' Trimerorhachis'', and rich deposits of other Permian tetrapods such as ''

Dimetrodon ''Dimetrodon'' ( or ,) meaning "two measures of teeth,” is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian), around 295–272 million years ago (Mya). It is a member of the family Sphenacodontid ...

'' and '' Diadectes''.

Demographics

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the census of 2000, 8,854 people, 3,345 households, and 2,515 families resided in the county. The population density was 10 people/sq mi (4/km²). The 3,871 housing units averaged 4/sq mi (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.54% White, 0.08% African American, 0.62% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 2.28% from other races, and 1.32% from two or more races. About 4.87% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 3,345 households, 37.20% had children under 18 living with them, 65.00% were married couples living together, 7.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.80% were not families. Of all unmarried partner households, 89.8% were heterosexual, 1.9% were same-sex male, and 8.3% were same-sex female. About 21.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.20% had someone who was 65 or older living alone. The average household size was 2.63, and the average family size was 3.08. In the county, the age distribution was 28.20% under 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 13.90% who were 65 or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $38,514, and for a family was $45,984. Males had a median income of $31,386 versus $22,119 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,300. About 6.80% of families and 9.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.90% of those under age 18 and 10.80% of those age 65 or over.

Education

These school districts serve Archer County: *

Archer City Independent School District Archer City Independent School District is a public school district based in Archer City, Texas (USA). Archer City serves much of Archer County, including the city of Archer City and most of the city of Scotland. Finances As of the 2010–20 ...

Holliday Independent School District Holliday Independent School District is a public school district based in Holliday, Texas, Holliday, Texas (United States, USA). Located in Archer County, Texas, Archer County, a small portion of the district extends into Wichita County, Texas, ...

Iowa Park Consolidated Independent School District Iowa Park Consolidated Independent School District is a public school district based in Iowa Park, Texas ( USA). Located in central Wichita County, the district extends into a small portion of northwestern Archer County. In Wichita County th ...

(partial) * Jacksboro Independent School District (partial) * Olney Independent School District (partial) *

Windthorst Independent School District Windthorst Independent School District is a public school district based in Windthorst, Texas, USA. Located in Archer County, the district extends into a portion of Clay County. In 2009, the school district was rated " recognized" by the ...

Megargel Independent School District Megargel Independent School District was a school district located in Megargel, Texas (USA) from 1910 until 2006. The district had one school called the Megargel School. The district served portions of Archer County, including the town of Megar ...

once served portions of Archer County, but it closed in 2006. The county is in the service area of Vernon College.

Ranching industry

The Seymour Division of the sprawling 320,000-deeded-acre (1400 km²) La Escalera Ranch is located north of Seymour, Texas in

with portions in Archer County. The Seymour Division consists of 34,000 acres (12,000 ha), which formerly was known as the Cross Bar Ranch when it was owned by the Claude Cowan Sr. Trust. The ranch was purchased in January, 2005 by the Gerald Lyda family and La Escalera Limited Partnership, and is managed by partner Jo Lyda Granberg and her husband K. G. Granberg of Seymour. La Escalera Ranch also extends over much of Pecos County and portions of Reeves and

Brewster Brewster may refer to: People * Brewster (surname) *Brewster Kahle (born 1960), American computer technologist *Brewster H. Shaw (born 1945), American astronaut Places * Brewster Park (Enniskillen), Northern Ireland *Brewster (crater), The Moon ...

Counties. It is known for its herd of Black Angus cattle and its abundant wildlife. Joseph Sterling Bridwell, a Wichita Falls philanthropist and oilman, also owned a ranch in Archer County.

Dairy industry

Archer County is one of the more prominent areas of dairy product production in Texas. The two southeastern Archer County cities of Scotland and Windthorst have 37 functioning dairy farms nearby as of 2019. The dairy industry moved to the area in the early 1900s and has persisted through the years. Though this area has many operating dairies, the number of dairy cattle makes up a fractions of the numbers that are raised in the other dairy pockets of Texas such as Dalhart/Dumas and the Stephenville area. Every dairy farm in the Scotland/Windthorst area is family owned, and this is from where most of the economy of the two cities derives.

Politics

Archer County is represented in the Texas House of Representatives by Republican

James Frank James Boisfeuillet Frank (born November 23, 1966) is a businessman from Wichita Falls, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 69, which encompasses Archer, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Knox, and Wichita ...

, a

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

man from Wichita Falls. Archer County is heavily Republican, and has voted for the presidential candidate of that party in every election since 1980.

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * Holliday * Scotland

Towns

* Lakeside City * Megargel * Windthorst (partly in Clay County)

Unincorporated communities

* Dads Corner *

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

* Mankins

Ghost towns

* Anarene *

Huff Huff or huffing may refer to: People * Huff (surname), a list of people with the surname Places in the United States * Huff Township, Spencer County, Indiana * Huff, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Huff, Kentucky, an unincorporated co ...