Carson County, Texas

Cities, Towns & Communities

Conway | Groom | Panhandle – county seat | Skellytown | White Deer

History

Carson County History 1922. The general topographical features of the Panhandle region pertain to Carson County. Its undulating prairies are almost devoid of timber, and in the absence of flowing streams it has an underground supply of water found at a depth of about 300 feet.

In 1890 the population of the county was 356; in 1900, 469; in 1910, 2,127, and in 1920, 3,078. The town of Panhandle at the last census had 638 inhabitants. In 1887 Panhandle City was fixed as the terminus of the Kansas Southern Division of the Santa Fe, then in course of construction. For some years the town was one of the most important in the entire Panhandle, and the first banking institution in all that region was established here about 1888. In 1888 the Fort Worth & Denver City Railroad was built, touching the southwest corner of Carson County, and a little later the Santa Fe found entrance to Amarillo by extending its line south to Washburn, and subsequently being built direct to Amarillo. In 1903 a portion of the Rock Island line was constructed across the southern border of the county. Along the latter road are two towns, Conway and Groom.

Carson County was organized June 26, 1888. In 1903 the assessed valuation of property in the county was $1,599,805; in 1913, $3,858,­ 933, and in 1920, $4,271,567. The progress of agriculture since the beginning of the present century is indicated by the increase of what the census denominates “improved land” from less than 5,000 acres in 1900 to about 86,000 acres in 1910. In the same time the number of farms increased from 57 to 284. The total area of the county is 571,520 acres, of which 468,275 acres were included in farms at the last census. The enumeration in 1920 showed 27,024 cattle and 4,768 horses and mules. The acreage planted to hay and forage crops in 1909 was 14,248; in kaffir corn and milo maize, 6,948; in oats, 6,910; in wheat, 6,025, and in corn, 1,472. Up to 1920 the county had made less progress in horticulture than other adjacent counties in the same district. – History of Texas, 1922, by W. Barrett Travis.

Location

Panhandle, TX 35° 20′ 44.1744″ N, 101° 22′ 49.602″ W

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