Crane County, Texas Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Crane County
U.S. county
Crane County Courthouse in Crane
Location within the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Texas
Founded	1927
Named for	William Carey Crane
Seat	Crane
Largest city	Crane
Area
• Total	786 sq mi (2,040 km²)
• Land	785 sq mi (2,030 km²)
• Water	0.7 sq mi (2 km²) 0.08%
Population (2020)
• Total	4,675
• Density	5.948/sq mi (2.2965/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	23rd

Road to Castle Gap between Crane and McCamey, Texas

Graves at Crane County Cemetery off U.S. Route 385

Crane County is a county in the state of Texas. In 2020, about 4,675 people lived there. The main town, called the county seat, is Crane. The county was started in 1887 and officially set up in 1927. It was named after William Carey Crane, who was a president of Baylor University.

History of Crane County
Geography and Nature
- Main Roads in Crane County
- Neighboring Counties
Population of Crane County
Economy of Crane County
Communities in Crane County
- City
- Unincorporated Community
Education in Crane County
See also

History of Crane County

Early Inhabitants: Native Americans

Long ago, Native American tribes lived in the Crane County area. Tribes like the Comanches, Lipan Apache, and Kiowa called this land home.

How Crane County Started

Crane County was created in 1887 from Tom Green County. It was named after William Carey Crane. Not many people lived here at first. In 1900, only 51 people and 12 ranches were counted. The county didn't even have roads until 1918.

Oil Discovery and Growth

Things changed in 1925 when a company started looking for oil. The first oil well began producing in March 1926. This discovery brought many people to the area. By 1927, about 6,000 people lived in the county. Most of them, about 4,500, lived in the town of Crane. Water was expensive and had to be brought in by trucks.

Since 1926, a lot of oil has been produced in Crane County. The county's history is kept safe at the Museum of the Desert Southwest. This museum opened in Crane in 1980.

Geography and Nature

Crane County covers about 786 square miles. Most of this area, 785 square miles, is land. Only a small part, about 0.7 square miles, is water.

Between Crane and McCamey is a special place called Castle Gap. This is a break in a high, flat landform called a mesa. It's about 12 miles east of the Pecos River. Long ago, Comanches, people traveling to the California Gold Rush, and cowboys moving cattle used this gap. It was an important path on the Goodnight-Loving Trail.

Main Roads in Crane County

U.S. Highway 385
State Highway 329

Neighboring Counties

Crane County shares borders with these other counties:

Ector County (north)
Upton County (east)
Crockett County (southeast)
Pecos County (south)
Ward County (west)

Population of Crane County

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1890	15	—
1900	51	240.0%
1910	331	549.0%
1920	37	−88.8%
1930	2,221	5,902.7%
1940	2,841	27.9%
1950	3,965	39.6%
1960	4,699	18.5%
1970	4,172	−11.2%
1980	4,600	10.3%
1990	4,652	1.1%
2000	3,996	−14.1%
2010	4,375	9.5%
2020	4,675	6.9%
U.S. Decennial Census 1850–2010 2010 2020

In 2000, there were 3,996 people living in Crane County. There were 1,360 households, which are groups of people living together. About 43.4% of these households had children under 18. The average household had about 2.91 people.

The median age in the county was 34 years old. This means half the people were younger than 34 and half were older. For every 100 females, there were about 94.8 males.

The median income for a household was $32,194 per year. This is the middle income for all households. About 13.4% of the population lived below the poverty line. This included 15.3% of children under 18.

Economy of Crane County

The biggest part of Crane County's economy is producing oil and gas. The Waddell Ranch in the county has many oil wells. Crane County is one of the largest oil-producing counties in Texas. A huge amount of oil has been pumped from the ground here since 1926.

Other important jobs in the county include cattle ranching and working for the local government. Over 503,000 acres of land are used for raising livestock.

Communities in Crane County

City

Crane (This is the county seat, the main town)

Unincorporated Community

Tubbs Corner

Education in Crane County

All students in Crane County attend schools in the Crane Independent School District. After high school, students can go to Odessa College. The entire county is part of Odessa College's service area.