Nolan County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the west-central region of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,738. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Sweetwater. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1881. It is named for Philip Nolan, one of the first

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

traders to visit Texas. Nolan County comprises the Sweetwater micropolitan statistical area.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which (0.2%) are covered by water. Nolan County is in the Cross Timbers region for wildlife management. Geologically Nolan County occupies part of the Rolling Plains in the North and South, separated by an isolated part of the Edwards Plateau in much of the center. The uplifted plateau, rising up to 500 feet above the surrounding plains, gives Nolan county an advantage on production of wind energy. West o
Highland School
th
Bench Mountain
at 2607 feet above sea level, is listed as the highest point in Nolan County. Plateau areas of the Cretaceous Period and much of the county are underlain by petroleum deposits from the Pennsylvanian Period.

Major highways

Interstate 20 * US 84

U.S. Highway 84 * Texas 70

State Highway 70 * Texas 153

State Highway 153

Adjacent counties

* Fisher County (north) * Taylor County (east) *

Runnels County Runnels County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 9,900. Its county seat is Ballinger. The county was created in 1858 and later organized in 1880. It is named for Hiram G. Runnels, a Texa ...

(southeast) * Coke County (south) * Mitchell County (west)

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 A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, 15,802 people, 6,170 households, and 4,288 families resided in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 17 people per square mile (7/km²). The 7,112 housing units averaged 8/sq mi (3/km²). The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the county was 78.45% White, 4.68% Black or African American, 0.49% Native American, 0.24% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 14.02% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. About 28.04% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 6,170 households, 32.20% had children under 18 living with them, 53.00% were married couples living together, 12.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were not families. Around 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.40% 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 3.01. In the county, the population was distributed as 27.10% under 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 25.40% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% who were 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $26,209, and for a family was $32,004. Males had a median income of $28,674 versus $19,335 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $14,077. About 18.30% of families and 21.70% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 29.50% of those under age 18 and 18.50% of those age 65 or over.

Wind power

Nolan County has established itself as a center for

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

generation. As of July 2008, Nolan County generated more wind energy than the entire state of California, and would have ranked sixth in the world for wind power generation if it were counted as its own country. In 2013, there were more than 13,000 operational wind turbines. A branch of

Texas State Technical College Texas State Technical College (TSTC) is a public community college with 10 campuses throughout Texas. TSTC is the State of Texas's only public multicampus technical college, offering associate degrees and certificates in technical skills and trade ...

, near Sweetwater, offers the first community-college program for wind energy in Texas beginning in 2007. Wind energy investments in the county of about $3 billion since 1999 have resulted in about 1,330 direct wind-related jobs created in Nolan County alone (in 2009), with almost $18,000,000 in annual landowner royalties and over $12,000,000 in annual local school taxes (2007), and about $1.7 million more in county property taxes. The majority of investments come from Epplament Energy, E.ON,

Invenergy Invenergy is an American based multinational power generation development and operations company. The company develops, builds, owns and operates power generation and energy storage projects in the Americas, Europe and Asia, including wind, solar, ...

, Lestis Private Capital Group, NextEra, and Lattner Energy. Nolan County is a hub of the Public Utility Commission's $5 billion CREZ wind-energy transmission line expansion project in Texas.

Communities

Cities

Blackwell Blackwell may refer to: Places ;Canada * Blackwell, Ontario ;United Kingdom * Blackwell, County Durham, England * Blackwell, Carlisle, Cumbria, England * Blackwell (historic house), South Lakeland, Cumbria, England * Blackwell, Bolsover, Alfre ...

(partly in Coke County) * Roscoe * Sweetwater (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

* Maryneal * Nolan * Hylton

Ghost towns

* Bitter Creek * Wastella
Decker ( active cemetery remaining )
* Divide (Slater's Chapel cemetery remaining)

Politics

Susan King has been since 2007 the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

state representative from Nolan, as well as

Jones Jones may refer to: People *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname *List of people with surname Jones * Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter Arts and entertainment * Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell ...

and

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) Pl ...

Counties.

References

External links

Nolan County Official Site
*
Nolan County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties

The National WASP WWII Museum

{{coord, 32.31, -100.40, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 Nolan County, Texas, 1881 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1881 Micropolitan areas of Texas