Comanche 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 on the

Edwards Plateau The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region forming the crossroads of Central, South and West Texas, United States. It is named in honor of Haden Edwards. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east; the Llano Uplift and the Lla ...

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas roughly bordered on the west by San Saba, to the southeast by Bryan- College Station, the south by San Marcos and to the north by Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 13,594. 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 ...

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

. The county was founded in 1856 and is named for the

Native American tribe.

History

Among the first inhabitants of present-day Comanche County were the

Indian tribe. In 1854, Jesse M. Mercer and others organized a colony near the future settlement of Newburg. in Comanche County on lands earlier granted by Mexico to Stephen F. Austin and Samuel May Williams. Frank M. Collier built the first log house in the county. In 1856, the Texas legislature formed Comanche County from Coryell and

Bosque A bosque ( ) is a type of gallery forest habitat found along the riparian flood plains of streams, river banks, and lakes. It derives its name from the Spanish word for "forest", pronounced . Setting In the predominantly arid or semiari ...

counties. Cora community, named after Cora Beeman of Bell County, was designated as the county seat.

became the county seat in 1859. As of 1860, the county population was 709 persons, including 61 slaves. The ''Comanche Chief'' began publication in 1873. Editor Joe Hill's brother, Robert T. Hill, worked on the newspaper while developing his esteemed career as a geologist. In 1874, John Wesley Hardin and his gang celebrated his 21st birthday in Brown and Comanche counties. Deputy Charles Webb drew his gun, provoking a gunfight that ended Webb's life. A lynch mob was formed, but Hardin and his family were put into protective custody. The mob broke into the jail and hanged his brother Joe and two cousins. Hardin fled. He was arrested in 1877 by Texas Rangers and a local authority on a train in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, while traveling under the alias James W. Swain. He was tried in Comanche for the murder of Deputy Sheriff Charles Webb, and sentenced to 25 years in Huntsville Prison. Known for its fertile soil, Comanche County was a hotbed of political

populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...

in the latter years of the 19th century.Don Holdridge,

University of Texas of the Permian Basin The University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB) is a public university in Odessa, Texas, United States. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTPB was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1969 and founded in 1973. UTPB is now home to ove ...

Odessa, Texas Odessa () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, Ector County with portions extending into Midland County, Texas, Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, "Surviving the Great Depression in Comanche County, Texas", West Texas Historical Association, annual meeting in

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 ...

, February 27, 2010

Expulsion of the African Americans

In 1886, "one of those too horribly frequent crimes was committed by an African American. He was quickly caught and was punished in accordance with the rules of the unwritten law." Following this lynching, at a meeting of the white citizens "it was resolved to give every negro in the county one week's notice to leave the county, and committees of men from different sections of the county were appointed to carry out the will of the white people." Comanche County was a

sundown town Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, were all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States. They were towns that practiced a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combinati ...

, and in 1886 the communities of Bibb, De Leon, Fleming, Sipe Springs, and Whittville had signage reading, "No negroes allowed in this town." According to a 1953 study, the county took pride in and publicized its all-white population. Black porters on the train would hide in the baggage car as trains passed through Comanche County. Because of the threats to its porters, the railroad asked that the sign be removed, and the town of De Leon moved it to the town well, "in the middle of Texas Avenue". No report gives the date of the sign's removal.

Arrival of the railroad

The Texas Central Railroad began service in Comanche County in 1885 and began carrying cattle and cotton to market. By 1890, cotton had become king in the county, but by the start of the 20th century, the boll weevil had devastated the county cotton industry for three decades. In 1907, farmers in the county began to experiment with peanut farming. Oil was discovered at Desdemona in 1910. The peak year for the Comanche County oil boom was 1920. In 1951–1952, a desperate, drought-stricken county experimented with rain making. Proctor Lake was impounded in 1963 to provide flood control and drinking water. From 1968 to 1974, Comanche County native Jim Reese served as the mayor of

. He launched unsuccessful congressional campaigns in the 1976 general election against the Democrat George H. Mahon and in the 1978 Republican

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

against

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. During the 1970s, the oil industrialist

Bill Noël William Douglas Noël (May 11, 1914 – January 9, 1987), was an American independent oilman, industrialist, banker, rancher, philanthropist, and civic leader in Odessa, Texas. Background Noël was born in Fort Worth, the son of Earnest No� ...

of Odessa purchased orchards in Comanche County. As of 1982, Comanche produced more than of peanuts, ranking second in Texas.

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 (1.0%) are covered by water. The county is located some 60 miles north of the geographic center of Texas. The county is home to Proctor Lake.

Adjacent counties

Erath County Erath County () is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. According to the United States Census bureau its population was 42,545 in 2020. The county seat is Stephenville, Texas, Stephenville. The county is named fo ...

(northeast) * Hamilton County (southeast) * Mills County (south) * Brown County (southwest) * Eastland County (northwest)

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, 14,026 people, 5,522 households, and 3,926 families were residing in the county. The population density was . The 7,105 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 87.30% White, 0.44% African American, 0.61% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 9.71% from other races, and 1.82% from two or more races. About 21% 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 ...

s or Latinos of any race. Of the 5,522 households, 29.8% had children under 18 living with them, 59.2% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.9% were not families. About 26% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.48, and the average family size was 2.98. In the county, the age distribution was 25.3% under 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 94.4 males. The median income for a household in the county was $28,422, and for a family was $34,810. Males had a median income of $26,094 versus $18,912 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,677. About 14% of families and 17.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.6% of those under 18 and 16.0% of those 65 or over.

Transportation

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 67/ U.S. Highway 377 * State Highway 16 * State Highway 36

Airport

The Comanche County-City Airport is located northeast of the City of Comanche's central business district.

Media

Comanche County is currently listed as 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 ...

DMA. Local media outlets include KDFW-TV,

KXAS-TV KXAS-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division alon ...

, WFAA-TV, KTVT-TV, KERA-TV, KTXA-TV, KDFI-TV, KDAF-TV, and KFWD-TV. Other nearby stations that provide coverage for Comanche County include KCEN-TV, KWTX-TV, and KAKW-DT from the Waco/

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

/ Killeen DMA, and

KTXS-TV KTXS-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Sweetwater, Texas, United States, serving the Abilene area as an affiliate of ABC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside KTES-LD (channel 40), broadcasting t ...

KTAB-TV KTAB-TV (channel 32) is a television station in Abilene, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and Telemundo. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to NBC affiliate KRBC-TV (channel 9) under joint sales an ...

, and

KRBC-TV KRBC-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Abilene, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains local marketing agreement, joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Nexstar ...

from the Abilene/ Sweetwater/ Brownwood DMA. Two local newspapers serve Comanche County: the ''Comanche Chief'' and the ''De Leon Free Press''.

Communities

Cities

(county seat) * De Leon

Town

* Gustine

Census-designated places

* Lamkin *

Proctor Proctor (a variant of ''wikt:procurator, procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historica ...

Other unincorporated communities

* Amity * Beattie * Comyn * Downing * Duster *

Energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

* Hasse * Hazel Dell * Newburg * Rucker * Sidney * Sipe Springs * Vandyke * Wilson

Ghost towns

* Cora * Mercer's Gap * Watson

Politics

Education

Ranger College Ranger College is a Public college, public community college in Ranger, Texas. The college's website asserts that it "is one of the oldest public two-year colleges in continuous operation in the state of Texas." In conjunction with its main campu ...

district according to the Texas Education Code.

References

External links

*
Comanche County Telephone
omanche County Telephone
The Comanche Chief Newspaper

The De Leon Free-Press Newspaper
{{Coord, 31.95, -98.56, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1856 establishments in Texas Expulsions of African Americans Populated places established in 1856 Sundown towns in Texas Racially motivated violence against African Americans in Texas