Joy, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joy, Texas
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 Joy, Texas
Location in Texas
Joy, Texas
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Clay |
| Elevation | 1,066 ft (325 m) |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 1360440 |
Joy is a small, unincorporated community located in southern Clay County, Texas, in the United States. This means it's a place where people live, but it doesn't have its own local government like a city or town. In 2000, about 100 people lived there. Joy is part of the larger Wichita Falls metropolitan area.
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History of Joy
North of the community, a stream called Joy Creek flows through the Joy oilfield. In the early 1880s, a group of pioneers from Fannin County settled here. They first called their new home Fanninton, Fannintown, or Fannin Town.
A Methodist church was started in 1881. Early settlers got their supplies from Gainesville. The Red River Cattle Company became interested in the nearby grasslands. They built fences around a large area. This led to problems with "fence-cutting," where people would cut the fences. This was a local issue until the state government made it a crime in 1884.
The village was renamed Joy when a post office opened there in 1895. This post office stayed open until the 1930s. In 1914, Joy had 23 residents, a general store, a blacksmith, and telephone lines. Over the next ten years, the population grew to 37. By the early 1940s, it was thought that about 150 people lived in Joy, and there were seven businesses.
In 1942, oil was discovered in the Joy field. By the early 1960s, Joy had only one business left. In the 1980s, the village still had three churches and a cemetery. The nearby Joy oilfield was still active in 1990, with fourteen wells that had produced a total of 25,000,000 barrels of crude oil. In 1990, Joy's population was still around 150. By 2000, the number of people living there dropped to 100. However, the population increased to 110 in 2019.
Weather Events in Joy
On May 19, 2015, a small EF0 tornado hit Joy. Luckily, it did not cause any damage. Another tornado, an EFU, struck Joy on May 22, 2020. Many storm chasers saw this tornado, but no damage was found.
Geography of Joy
Joy is located where two roads meet: Farm to Market Road 173 and Texas State Highway 148. It is about 16 mi (26 km) south of Henrietta. Joy is also about 30 mi (48 km) southeast of Wichita Falls. It is 20 mi (32 km) west of Bowie and 20 mi (32 km) north of Jacksboro, all within southern Clay County.
Education in Joy
The very first school in Joy was held in an old log house in 1881. Today, students in Joy attend schools that are part of the Midway Independent School District.
Notable People from Joy
- Irven DeVore was an anthropologist and evolutionary biologist who studied humans and how they developed over time.
- Lucian W. Parrish was a U.S. Representative who went to school in Joy.
