Hemphill County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers 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

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: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,382. The

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 ...

and only incorporated community in the county is the city of

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1887. It is named for John Hemphill, a judge and

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

congressman. Hemphill County is one of six

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

, or entirely dry, counties in the state of Texas.

History

Early history

For the 200 years leading up to 1875, nomadic Indian tribes representing the Apache, Comanche,

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

, and others roamed the Panhandle following the huge bison (buffalo) herds. In search for an alternate route to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

through Santa Fe, New Mexico,

Josiah Gregg Josiah Gregg (19 July 1806 – 25 February 1850) was an American merchant, explorer, naturalist, and author of '' Commerce of the Prairies'', about the American Southwest and parts of northern Mexico. He collected many previously undescribed pla ...

(1840), and Captain

Randolph B. Marcy Randolph Barnes Marcy (April 9, 1812 – November 22, 1887) was an officer in the United States Army, chiefly noted for his frontier guidebook, the ''Prairie Traveler'' (1859), based on his own extensive experience of pioneering in the west. This p ...

(1845) surveyed trails that crossed Hemphill County, following the south bank of the Canadian River. The 1874–75

Red River War The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains, and forcibly relocate the tribes to reservati ...

was an effort by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

to force the Indians of the Southern Plains to move to

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

in present-day Oklahoma. Two major battles took place in what would become Hemphill County: the Battle of Lyman's Wagon Train and the Battle of Buffalo Wallow. On April 12, 1879,

Wheeler County Wheeler County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Wheeler County, Georgia * Wheeler County, Nebraska * Wheeler County, Oregon * Wheeler County, Texas Wheeler County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of t ...

became the first organized county in the Panhandle, with 14 other unorganized counties attached to it, one of which was Hemphill County. Hemphill County was organized in July 1887.

Influence of Santa Fe Railroad

In 1886, the Southern Kansas Railway Company, a Santa Fe subsidiary, began to build a rail line into the Panhandle of Texas. The tracks entered Hemphill County during 1887 and further encouraged settlement in the area, creating three town sites: Mendota, Canadian, and Glazier. In 1907, Canadian was designated a division point by the Santa Fe, a factor which brought diversification to the previously ranching economy of the area. The Santa Fe influence remained very strong until the mid-1950s, when the railway moved its employees to Amarillo. Meanwhile, Hemphill County was roughly the midway point of two smaller lines, the Clinton and Oklahoma Western Railroad Company and the Clinton-Oklahoma-Western Railroad Company of Texas.

Oil production

During the 1970s, the county grew due to a rapid expansion of oil production. Though oil was discovered in the county in 1955, production remained relatively small because the technology had not yet progressed to efficiently capture the very deep reserves known to exist. By 1974, oil production had reached and more than in 1978. In 2000, about of oil and more than 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas were produced in the county, but the future looked very bright.

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 are land and (0.6%) are covered by water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 60 * U.S. Highway 83 * State Highway 33

Adjacent counties

* Lipscomb County (north) *

Ellis County, Oklahoma Ellis County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,151, making it the fifth-least populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is Arnett. The county was named fo ...

(northeast) *

Roger Mills County, Oklahoma Roger Mills County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,647, making it the third-least populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is Cheyenne. The county was create ...

(southeast) *

(south) * Roberts County (west) * Gray County (southwest)

National protected area

Black Kettle National Grassland The Black Kettle National Grassland, in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma and Hemphill County, Texas, contains of which are in Oklahoma. Named for the Indian leader Black Kettle, the grassland is managed by the Cibola National Forest, which also ...

(part)

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 in ...

of 2000, 3,351 people, 1,280 households, and 948 families resided in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

was four people per square mile (1/km²). The 1,548 housing units averaged two per square mile (1/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 87.65% White, 1.55% Black or African American, 0.72% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 8.48% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. About 15.6% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 1,280 households, 32.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.20% were married couples living together, 5.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.90% were not families. About 24.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.98. In the county, the population was distributed as 28.00% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 25.40% from 45 to 64, and 14.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,456, and for a family was $42,036. Males had a median income of $31,154 versus $19,423 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 $16,929. About 10.90% of families and 12.60% 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 16.70% of those under age 18 and 12.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

(county seat) *

Glazier A glazier is a tradesman responsible for cutting, installing, and removing glass (and materials used as substitutes for glass, such as some plastics).Elizabeth H. Oakes, ''Ferguson Career Resource Guide to Apprenticeship Programs'' ( Infobase: ...

Politics

References

External links

*
Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Hemphill County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties

River Valley Pioneer Museum

The Citadelle Art Foundation

Canadian Independent School District

The Canadian Record
{{authority control 1887 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1887 Texas Panhandle