Swisher County, Texas

Swisher County, located in the Texas Panhandle is surrounded by Randall County to the north, Armstrong County to the northeast, Briscoe County to the east, Floyd County to the southeast, Hale County to the south and Castro County to the west. Tulia, the county seat, is located 50 miles south of Amarillo and 75 miles north of Lubbock.

Cities, Towns and Communities

Happy | Kress | Love | Tulia – county seat | Vigo Park

History

Swisher County was organized July 17, 1890. At the census of 1880 only four persons were found residing within its limits, and by 1890 the population was only 100. In 1900 the census reported a population of 1,227; in 1910, 4,012 and in 1920, 4,388. Development has been greatly promoted since the Pecos & Northern Branch of the Santa Fe was built from Canyon City south through Swisher County to Plainview in Hale County in 1907. Up to that time there was little incentive to farming, though most of the ranchers began some ten or fifteen years ago to cultivate a portion of their holdings in the forage crops particularly suitable to the Panhandle, and also to some extent employed windmills to pump water from the abundant underground supply for irrigating their truck patches. While irrigation is still limited, dry farming has accomplished a great deal, and in certain sections, especially in the Valley of Tulia Creek, on the sub-irrigated land, the growing of alfalfa and other crop has proved exceedingly profitable. Along the railroad and within convenient distance of railroad towns there is a rapid increase noted in the amount of land cultivated, but in other sections the grazing of cattle is the chief occupation. When the county was organized the seat of government was located at Tulia, exactly in the center of the county. Swisher County History.

Location

Tulia, TX 34° 32′ 9.2184″ N, 101° 45′ 30.6576″ W

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