Guthrie is an

unincorporated town An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in and the county seat of King County 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 ...

. It is in the northern part of the state, east of

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

and west of

Wichita Falls Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita Counties. According to ...

. It serves as the principal headquarters of the Four Sixes Ranch. As of the 2020 census, its population was 151, down from 160 at

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

History

Guthrie's recorded history begins in 1883, when the Louisville Land and Cattle Company in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, purchased several hundred acres in what later became King County. Named after Louisville Land and Cattle stockholder W.H. Guthrie, the community's townsite was platted in 1891 by Andrew Chester Tackitt (son of Rev.

Pleasant Tackitt Pleasant Tackitt (or Tackett; April 22, 1803 – February 7, 1886) (sometimes rendered as James Pleasant, but no official documents support this name) was a 19th-century politician, pioneer Methodist minister, stockman, teacher, farmer, Indian f ...

, who had built Guthrie's first residence). When King County was organized that same year, Louisville Land and Cattle proposed the platting of a company townsite, to be named "Ashville", to serve as the county's seat. Tackitt strongly opposed this proposition and led a charge to bring the seat to Guthrie, instead. Tackitt's hotly contested campaign ultimately proved successful, and he not only succeeded in making Guthrie the county seat, but was also elected to serve as King County's first county judge. Late in 1891, the Guthrie post office opened to the public. The next year, Tackitt and a man by the name of Charlie Bradford brought in lumber from the neighboring community of

Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia *Seymour, Victoria, a township ** Seymour railway station * Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria * Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria * Se ...

and constructed Guthrie's first school, a small, one-room building. A larger school followed in 1895, though the lone teacher continued to depend upon schools in Seymour and

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

for curriculum. Proprietor John Gibson began to keep a stock of school books at his Guthrie general store in 1897, decreasing the school's dependence upon other districts. In 1904, Guthrie claimed 101 residents, and though hurt by the effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and the

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of natural factors (severe drought) and hum ...

, remained stable through to the mid-20th century, with the 1950 Census also reporting 101 residents. In 1959, schools in nearby Dumont were consolidated with Guthrie's schools, and by 1963, its population had more than doubled to 210. The mid- to late 1960s brought an end to Guthrie's growth; the population had fallen to 125 by 1970. It increased to 140 in 1980 and 160 in 1990, a figure it maintained through to the 2010 census. Being a

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

, very few homes in Guthrie are privately owned; most residents live in housing provided by the 6666 (Four Sixes) or Pitchfork ranches, or the school district.

Geography

Guthrie is located in west-central King County, on the north side of the South Wichita River.

U.S. Route 82 U.S. Route 82 (US 82) is an east–west United States highway in the Southern United States. Created on July 1, 1931 across central Mississippi and southern Arkansas, US 82 eventually became a route extending from the White Sands of New ...

passes through the western side of the community, and

U.S. Route 83 U.S. Route 83 (US 83) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that extends in the central United States. Only four other north–south routes are longer: US 1, US 41, US 59, and US 87, while ...

passes through the center of Guthrie. 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 Guthrie CDP has an area of , of which , or 0.06%, is covered by water.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Guthrie has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, denoted as ''Cfa'' on climate maps, though it closely borders a

cool semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

(''BSk''). Guthrie has a

USDA hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

of 7b, with minimum temperatures ranging from .

Demographics

Guthrie was designated as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2010 U.S. Census. As of the 2020 United States census, there were 151 people, 63 households, and 50 families residing in the CDP.

Education

Guthrie is served by the Guthrie Common School District, which consistently ranks as a "recognized" school district by the

Texas Education Agency The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is the branch of the government of Texas responsible for public education in Texas in the United States.

Notable person

* Max Williams - basketball player and coach; lived in Guthrie as a child.

In popular culture

Author Mitch Cullin graduated from Guthrie School in 1986, and while the setting of his early writings was often the town of

Claude Claude may refer to: People and fictional characters * Claude (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Claude (surname), a list of people * Claude Callegari (1962–2021), English Arsenal supporter * Claude Debussy (1862–1918), ...

in Armstrong County, Cullin said in interviews that his novels '' Whompyjawed'' and ''

Branches A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includi ...

'' were based on Guthrie.

References

External links

{{authority control Census-designated places in King County, Texas County seats in Texas Census-designated places in Texas Unincorporated communities in King County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas Populated places established in 1891 1891 establishments in Texas