Clay 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 ...

located in the U.S. state of

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 10,218. The

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 Henrietta. The county was founded in 1857 and later organized in 1860. It is named in honor of

Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...

, famous American statesman,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and United States Secretary of State. Clay County is part of the Wichita Falls, Metropolitan Statistical Area in North Texas. The Wichita Falls rancher, oilman, and philanthropist Joseph Sterling Bridwell owned a ranch in Clay County, among his multiple holdings.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.5%) is water. Lake Arrowhead State Park, a development on Lake Arrowhead in Clay County, encompasses acres. The lakeshore extends 106 miles; the park offers bicycling, birding, boating, camping, canoeing, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, nature study, picnicking, swimming, and wildlife observation.

Adjacent counties

* Jefferson County, Oklahoma (north) * Montague County (east) * Jack County (south) * Archer County (west) * Wichita County (northwest) * Cotton County, Oklahoma (northwest)

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,006 people, 4,323 households, and 3,181 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 4,992 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.35%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.42%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.03% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.68% from other races, and 1.42% from two or more races. 3.67% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. At 89.4% of the county's population, Clay County has the highest percentage of Non-Hispanic Whites in the state of

. There were 4,323 households, out of which 30.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.20% were married couples living together, 7.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were non-families. 23.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.98. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.90% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 25.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,738, and the median income for a family was $41,514. Males had a median income of $28,914 versus $20,975 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,361. About 8.10% of families and 10.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.70% of those under age 18 and 11.00% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 82 * U.S. Highway 287 * State Highway 79 * State Highway 148

Farm to market roads

Communities

Cities

* Bellevue * Byers * Dean * Henrietta (county seat) * Jolly * Petrolia

Town

* Windthorst (mostly in Archer County)

Unincorporated communities

* Bluegrove * Buffalo Springs * Charlie * Hurnville * Joy * Newport (also Jack County) * Shannon * Stanfield * Thornberry * Vashti

Ghost towns

* Deer Creek * Halsell * Prospect * Raymond

Politics

Clay County is represented in the Texas House of Representatives by Republican James Frank, a businessman from Wichita Falls. Prior to 1996, Clay County was strongly Democratic in presidential elections. The only Republican Party candidates who managed to win the county from 1912 to 1992 were

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

thanks to anti-Catholic sentiment towards Al Smith as well as

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in their 49-state landslides of 1972 & 1984, respectively. Since 1996, the county has swung hard to supporting the Republican Party similar to almost all white-majority rural counties in the Solid South.

Education

References

External links

Clay County Official Website

See historic photos of Clay County
from the Clay County Historical Society, hosted by th
Portal to Texas History
*
Clay County 1890 Jail Museum-Heritage Center
{{Coord, 33.79, -98.21, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1860 establishments in Texas Wichita Falls metropolitan area Populated places established in 1860