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 Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

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 Henry Alexander Wise (December 3, 1806 – September 12, 1876) was an American attorney, diplomat, politician and slave owner from Virginia. As the 33rd Governor of Virginia, Wise served as a significant figure on the path to the American Civil ...

, 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 The Great Hanging at Gainesville was the execution by hanging of 41 suspected Unionists (men loyal to the United States) in Gainesville, Texas, in October 1862 during the American Civil War. Confederate troops shot two additional suspects trying ...

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 Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the seventh-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was esta ...

(east) *

Tarrant County Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas with a 2020 U.S. census population of 2,110,640, making it the third-most populous county in Texas and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth. T ...

(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

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 Parker may refer to: People * Parker (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Parker (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Arts and entertainment * ''Parke ...

, and Wise Counties) *

Lake Bridgeport Lake Bridgeport is a city in Wise County, Texas, United States. The population was 339 in 2020. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.5 square mile (1.2 km2), all land. Climate The ...

* New Fairview * Newark (small part in

) *

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 Runaway Bay may refer to: * Runaway Bay, Jamaica * Runaway Bay, Queensland Runaway Bay is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Runaway Bay had a population of 9,308 people. The neighbourhood of Anglers ...

Towns

* Alvord *

Boyd Boyd may refer to: Places Canada * Boyd Conservation Area, a conservation area located northwest of Toronto, Ontario * Boyd Lake (disambiguation) United States * Boyd County (disambiguation) * Boyd, Indiana * Boyd, Iowa * Boyd, Kansas * Bo ...

* Chico * Crafton

Census-designated places

* Briar (partly in Tarrant and

Counties) * Pecan Acres (mostly in

)

Unincorporated communities

Allison Allison may refer to: People * Allison (given name) * Allison (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Eugene Allison Smith (1922-1980), American politician and farmer * Allison family, a family of RMS Titanic passengers Compan ...

* Balsora * Boonsville * Cottondale *

Greenwood Green wood is unseasoned wood. Greenwood or Green wood may also refer to: People * Greenwood (surname) Settlements Australia * Greenwood, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region * Greenwood, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ...

* 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 The Williams Institute is a public policy research institute based at the UCLA School of Law focused on sexual orientation and gender identities issues. History The Williams Institute was founded in 2001 through a grant by Charles R. "Chuck" ...

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 Alvord Independent School District is a public school district based in Alvord, Texas (USA). The district is located in north central Wise County and extends into a small portion of southern Montague County. The district operates one high s ...

Boyd Independent School District Boyd Independent School District is a public school district based in Boyd, Texas ( USA). In addition to Boyd, the district also serves a portion of the Briar community. Finances As of the 2010–2011 school year, the appraised valuation of ...

Bridgeport Independent School District Bridgeport Independent School District is a public school district based in Bridgeport, Texas, United States. In addition to Bridgeport, the district also serves the cities of Lake Bridgeport and Runaway Bay. The district operates one high sc ...

Chico Independent School District Chico Independent School District is a public school district based in Chico, Texas (USA). The mascot of this school district is The Mighty Dragons. In 2009, the school district was rated " academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agen ...

Decatur Independent School District Decatur Independent School District is a public school district based in Decatur, Texas (USA), northwest of Fort Worth. In addition to Decatur, the district also serves portions of New Fairview and Rhome. Decatur ISD was established by Mark ...

* Paradise Independent School District *

Slidell Independent School District Slidell Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Slidell, Texas (USA). Located in Wise County, a portion of the district extends into Denton, Cooke, and Montague counties. The small community of G ...

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 Bridgeport Municipal Airport is a public airport near Bridgeport, in Wise County, Texas. It is owned by the City of Bridgeport and is located southwest of the central business district. Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location ...

(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