Wise County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in 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 so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 68,632. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Decatur. Wise County is part of the

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

–

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

– Arlington metropolitan statistical area. Its Wise Eyes crime-watch program, eventually adopted by mostly rural counties in several states, was started in 1993 by then-Sheriff Phil Ryan.

History

On November 10, 1837, the Battle of the Knobs was fought in what is now Wise County between about 150 Native American warriors and 18

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

soldiers under Lieutenant A. B. Benthuysen. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Texan soldiers held their ground, killing or wounding an estimated 50 Native Americans and losing 10 of their own men. More settlers began coming into the area not long afterward, with people relocating from both the Upper South and Deep South. Wise County was not founded until 1856. It was named after Virginia Congressman Henry A. Wise, who had supported annexation of Texas by the United States. He was elected

governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...

in 1856. As few residents of Wise County were slaveholders, opinions were mixed at the time of the Civil War, and many people opposed secession. Unionists were persecuted in North Texas, and some were lynched. Forty-two men were murdered in the Great Hanging at Gainesville in October 1862, over the course of several days in neighboring Cooke County. This was one of the worst examples of vigilante justice in American history. In recent years, Wise County allowed an increase in

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, fracing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of Formation (geology), formations in bedrock by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the ...

. In 2011, the Parr family and others filed a lawsuit against several energy companies, including Republic Energy, Inc. and Ryder Scott Petroleum, claiming the extracting processes have created health complications for their family and neighbors. In April 2014, the Parrs won a $2.9 million award from a Dallas jury.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, 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 U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which (2.0%) are covered by water.

Adjacent counties

* Montague County (north) * Cooke County (northeast) * Denton County (east) * Tarrant County (southeast) * Parker County (south) * Jack County (west)

National protected area

* Lyndon B. Johnson National Grassland (majority)

Communities

Cities

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

* Decatur (county seat) *

(mostly in Tarrant County with small parts in Denton,

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

, Parker, and Wise Counties) * Lake Bridgeport * New Fairview * Newark (small part in Tarrant County) *

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

* Rhome * Runaway Bay

Towns

* Alvord * Boyd * Chico * Crafton

Census-designated places

* Briar (partly in Tarrant and Parker Counties) * Pecan Acres (mostly in Tarrant County)

Unincorporated communities

* Allison * Balsora * Boonsville * Cottondale * Greenwood * Slidell *

Sycamore Sycamore is a name which has been applied to several types of trees, but with somewhat similar leaf forms. The name derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning . Species of otherwise unrelated trees known as sycamore: * ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', a ...

Demographics

In 2000 there were 48,793 people, 17,178 households, and 13,467 families were residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . The 19,242 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 91.01% White, 1.23% Black, 0.75% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 5.07% from other races, and 1.71% from two or more races. About 10.76% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. By 2020, its population increased to 68,632; the racial and ethnic makeup of the county in 2020 was predominantly

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

, and Hispanic or Latino American of any race. A Williams Institute analysis of 2010 census data found about 3.4

same-sex couples A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

per 1,000 households in the county. American Community Survey 2023 Data The United States Census Bureau estimated that in 2023, Wise County’s population was 78,097. It was also estimated that the county was 21.5% Hispanic or Latino, 73.5% NH White, 1.8% NH Black, 0.6% NH Asian, 0.7% NH Native American, 0.1% NH Pacific Islander, 1.7% NH Multiracial.

Politics

Wise County, like most rural counties in Texas, votes reliably for Republican candidates in statewide and national elections.

Education

These school districts lie entirely within Wise County: * Alvord Independent School District * Boyd Independent School District * Bridgeport Independent School District * Chico Independent School District * Decatur Independent School District * Paradise Independent School District * Slidell Independent School District This private educational institution serves Wise County: * Victory Christian Academy This higher education institution serves Wise County: *

Weatherford College Weatherford College (WC; officially Weatherford College of the Parker County Junior College District) is a public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general publi ...

Transportation

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 81 * U.S. Highway 287 * U.S. Highway 380 * State Highway 101 * State Highway 114 * State Highway 199

Airports

These public-use airports are located in the county: * Bishop Airport (76T) * Bridgeport Municipal Airport (XBP) * Decatur Municipal Airport (LUD) * Heritage Creek Airstrip (58T) * Rhome Meadows Airport (T76)

References

External links

Wise County Genealogy Resources

Wise County on the Web

Wise County government's website

"Liberally Lean From The Land of Dairy Queen" - A Local Blog About Wise County

Wise County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

{{coord, 33.22, -97.65, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1856 establishments in Texas Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Populated places established in 1856