Barnhart is an unincorporated small town in

Irion County Irion County ( ) is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,513. Its county seat is Mertzon. The county is named for Robert Anderson Irion, a secretary of state of the R ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States. As of 2017, the population was estimated to be 105. Numerous

oil rigs {{about, , the mnemonic OIL RIG, Redox An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig, an apparatus for on-land oil drilling * Drillship, a floating apparatus for offshore oil drilling * ...

are located in the surrounding area.

History

Barnhart was founded by Willam E. Barnhart in 1910, when the

Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway The Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, started in 1900 by American railroad entrepreneur Arthur Edward Stilwell, was the predecessor of the Chihuahua al Pacífico railroad in Mexico. It was intended to reach the Pacific Ocean at Topolobamp ...

was constructed through

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...

, passing through the area. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

opened in Barnhart in 1912, and a school operated in the community from 1912 to 1969. The population was estimated to be approximately 50 in 1915. By 1920, the town had the Barnhart State Bank (which was moved to an adjacent town in 1927) and a newspaper - the Barnhart Range, published by Ed Downing. In the 1920s and 1930s, Barnhart became a large-volume shipping point, due to its location between major

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

lines. Barnhart was described as "dusty, bawling cattle, hell-raising cowboys and trains a half-mile long", in the 1920s and 30s. Barnhart had everything the

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

s and railroaders needed: A hotel, cafe, a bank and a theater. Because of the remoteness of West Texas, traditional cattle drives continued to Barnhart, long after the practice was popular. The amount of cattle coming through began to cause problems for the local ranchers. To protect the pastures from over-grazing, ranchers began to put up more fencing. This ended what may have been the beginning of the end to cattle drives in Texas. To circumvent the issue, the Ozona-Barnhart Trap Company was formed in 1924. A long, narrow path of leased/purchased land stretching 34 miles, from south of Ozona to Barnhart, became Texas’ last major cattle trail. In April 1934, Barnhart's former

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

pled guilty in federal court to “conversion of funds.” Barnhart, which is out in the middle of the Texas plains, naturally lacked law enforcement at that time. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the federal government began buying up the cattle, and then having them slaughtered to reduce supply, in hopes of reviving a market that had practically died. By the year 2000, the population was estimated to be 160.

Education

The

Irion County Independent School District Irion County Independent School District is a public school district based in Mertzon, Texas (USA). Residents of Sherwood, Mertzon, Barnhart, and some residents of Tom Green County attend the school. In 2009, the school district was rated " r ...

serves the students living in the area.

Highways

* *

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Barnhart has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

In 2013, Barnhart experienced a drought which was exacerbated by the copious consumption of groundwater used in the

hydraulic fracking Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...

process of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

extraction.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Irion County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas San Angelo, Texas metropolitan area Populated places established in 1910 1910 establishments in Texas