Cooke County, Texas

Cities, Towns & Communities

Bulcher | Burns City | Callisburg | Custer City | Dexter | Era | Fair Plains | Gainesville – county seat | Hood | Leo | Lindsay | Lois | Marysville | Mountain Springs | Moss Lake | Muenster | Myra | Oak Ridge | Rosston | Pioneer Valley | Prairie Point | Sivells Bend | Valley View | Walnut Bend | Whitesboro (mostly in Grayson County) | Windsor | Woodbine

History

Cooke County. One of the foremost agricultural and horticultural counties of North Texas, Cooke County, became settled during the decade of the ’70s, and for more than thirty years its population has kept within the twenty thousands. The county was created by the Legislature in 1848 and organized in the following year, and in 1850 its population was a little more than 200. Cooke County is near the northeast corner of the original Peter colony grant, and its first settlers were Peters colonists. The pioneers began coming into the county about 1845. Gainesville was settled in 1848, and was selected as the county seat, and in 1856 was the only postoffice in the county. As the Red River forms the northern boundary and north of that was formerly the Indian Territory, the inhabitants were especially exposed to Indian attacks for many years, particularly during the Civil war decade. In December, 1863, a raid into Cooke County resulted in the death of nine citizens and three soldiers, also the wounding of three soldiers and four citizens, and ten houses were burned, also a great quantity of grain. A number of the citizens left their homes and moved farther east, some in a destitute condition, without bedding or change of clothing. All the houses in Gainesville were crowded with refugees from the north and west part of the county. It was in 1868 that the Comanches made their last raid into Cooke and Denton counties. Thus to a large degree the progress which had been made before the war was lost, and the old and new settlers who returned during the late ’60s found the fields almost in their virgin condition, and the work of development had to be begun over again. 

Location

Gainesville, TX 33° 37′ 33.3876″ N, 97° 8′ 0.042″ W

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