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Texas Counties
Texas is divided into two hundred and fifty-four counties, more than any other state. Texas was originally divided into municipalities, a unit of local government under Spanish and Mexican rule. When the Republic of Texas gained its independence in 1836, there were 23 municipalities, which became the original Texas counties. Many of these would later be divided into new counties. The most recent county to be created was Kenedy County in 1921. The most recent county to be organized was Loving County in 1931Parmer County, Texas
Parmer County Education, Geography, and History
Parmer County is a county located in the southwestern Texas Panhandle on the high plains of the Llano Estacado in the state of Texas. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 10,269. The county seat is Farwell. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1907. It is named in honor of Martin Parmer, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and early judge.
Etymology - Origin of Parmer County Name
Martin Parmer, an early legislator, judge, and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts
Parmer County History
Parmer County is a county located in the US state of Texas. The seat of the county is Farwell. The county is named in honor of Martin Parmer, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and early judge. Parmer County is in the southwestern Texas Panhandle.
Handbook of Texas Online
In 1876 Parmer County was established by the Texas legislature from lands formerly assigned to the Bexar
District. No settlement occurred in the county until 1882. In January of that year the Capitol Syndicate agreed to
build a new state capitol in return for 3,000,000 acres of land in West Texas. Parmer County lay entirely within the
lands granted to the Chicago syndicate for its huge XIT Ranch. For the rest of
the century Parmer County remained unorganized and unpopulated, except for the XIT cowboys. The 1890 population of
seven grew only to thirty-four by 1900, and ranching dominated the region. According to the United States
agricultural census for 1900, the XIT (the only ranch in the area at the time) extended across 150,000 acres of
Parmer County land. The census reported 13,675 cattle in the county that year; only 350 acres were considered to be
"improved," and no crops were reported. While the area was solely devoted to cattle in 1900, developments that would
reshape the area had already begun to occur. In 1898 the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway Company began construction
of a ninety-five-mile branch line from Amarillo to the Texas-New Mexico border. On this line, which was eventually
to run from Amarillo to the Santa Fe main line in Belen, New Mexico, grew several communities in Parmer County.
Parmerton appeared in 1898 as a Capitol Syndicate townsite, while Black, Friona, and Bovina appeared the same year
as switches and townsites on the line. Farwell, established in 1904 and surveyed in 1905, was founded by the
syndicate as a central point from which the company could administer the sales of XIT lands. The appearance of
Farwell led to the quick demise of Parmerton. In 1904 the Capitol Syndicate launched a campaign to sell the holdings
of the XIT Ranch to land speculators, smaller ranchers, and farmers. Between 1904 and 1910 farmers slowly but
steadily arrived to establish new operations, and by 1910 there were 161 farms and ranches in the county. About
7,000 acres was planted in corn, the county's most important crop, that year; another 2,000 acres was planted in
wheat, and 4,900 acres was devoted to sorghum. By 1920 there were 212 farms and ranches in the county; about 15,000
acres was planted in sorghum that year, along with 1,300 acres of corn and 5,370 acres of wheat. Meanwhile,
reflecting this early growth, the population of the county rose to 1,555 by 1910 and to 1,699 by 1920. During these
early years of agricultural development, the citizens decided to organize the county and establish a local
government. Accordingly, a petition for organization passed through the county in May of 1907. On May 7 an election
to choose county officials and a county seat was held. Parmerton became the county seat, but in another election
held in December 1907, the county's voters chose Farwell to become county seat in 1908 More at
Donald R. Abbe, "PARMER COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcp04),
accessed January 24, 2016. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
Geography: Land and Water
As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 885 square miles (2,293 km2), of which, 882
square miles (2,283 km2) of it is land and 3 square miles (10 km2) of it (0.40%) is water.
Neighboring Counties
Bordering counties are as follows:
- Deaf Smith County (north)
- Castro County (east)
- Lamb County (southeast)
- Bailey County (south)
- Curry County, New Mexico (west)
Education
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