Erath County, Texas

Erath County, located in the Edwards Plateau region of central Texas is bordered on the north by Palo Pinto County, on the northeast by Hood County, on the east by Somervell County, on the southeast by Bosque County, on the south by Hamilton County, on the southwest by Comanche County and on the west by Eastland County.

Cities, Towns & Communities

Alexander | Bluff Dale | Chalk Mountain | Clairette | Dublin | Duffau | Edna Hill | Hannibal | Harbin | Huckaby | Lingleville | Lone Oak | Morgan Mill | Mount Airy | Oak Dale | Purves | Selden | Stephenville – county seat | Three Way (Johnsville) | Thurber

History

Erath County History 1922. Erath County was created January 25, 1856, from Bosque and Coryell counties. Settlement began in the early ’50s, and before the county was organized the town of Stephenville had been laid out. Its proprietors on July 4, 1855, offered land for the county buildings, provided the county seat was located there, and the legislative act above noted designated that town as the seat of justice, provided these donations were made.

The population of the county in 1858 was estimated at 766 and only about 1,500 acres were in cultivation. For twenty years after the county was organized it was on the frontier, and property was never secure from Indian raids. After the war this entire region was in the great cattle ranges.

Erath County was marked off from Bosque and Coryell counties in 1856 and named for George B. Erath, one of the original surveyors of the area. The center of the county is near Stephenville, eighty miles southwest of Dallas. In 1856 John M. Stephen offered to donate land for a courthouse and townsite if the town was named Stephenville and made the county seat. The state of Texas agreed and formed Erath County that year.

Location

Stephenville, TX 32° 13′ 14.5056″ N, 98° 12′ 8.1468″ W

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