Young County, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Young County
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The Young County Courthouse in Graham
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Location within the U.S. state of Texas
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 Texas's location within the U.S. |
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  Texas |
| Founded | 1874 |
| Seat | Graham |
| Largest city | Graham |
| Area | |
| • Total | 931 sq mi (2,410 km2) |
| • Land | 914 sq mi (2,370 km2) |
| • Water | 16 sq mi (40 km2) 1.8% |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 17,867 |
| • Density | 19.191/sq mi (7.410/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | 19th |
Young County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,867. Its county seat is Graham. The county was created in 1856 and organized in 1874. It is named for William Cocke Young, an early Texas settler and soldier.
Contents
History
Native Americans
The Brazos Indian Reservation, founded by General Randolph B. Marcy in 1854, provided a safety area from warring Comanche for Delaware, Shawnee, Tonkawa, Wichita, and Caddo. Within the reservation, each tribe had its own village and cultivated agricultural crops. Government-contracted beeves were delivered each week. Citizens were unable to distinguish between reservation and non-reservation tribes, blaming Comanche and Kiowa depredations on the reservation Indians. A newspaper in Jacksboro, Texas titled The White Man advocated removal of all tribes from north Texas.
During December 1858, Choctaw Tom, at times an interpreter to Sam Houston, and a group of reservation Indians received permission for an off-the-reservation hunt. On December 27, Captain Peter Garland and a vigilante group charged Choctaw Tom’s camp, indiscriminately murdering and injuring women and children along with the men. . Governor Hardin Richard Runnels ordered John Henry Brown to the area with 100 troops. An examining trial was conducted about the Choctaw Tom raid, but no indictments resulted. May 1859, John Baylor and a number of whites confronted United States troops at the reservation, demanding the surrender of certain tribal individuals. The military balked, and Baylor retreated, but in so doing killed an Indian woman and an old man. Baylor’s group was later attacked by Indians off the reservation, where the military had no authority to intervene.
In May 1871, Kiowa medicine man Satank (Sitting Bear), and Kiowa chiefs Satanta (White Bear), Addo-etta (Big Tree) and Maman-ti (Skywalker) led a force of over 100 Kiowa, Comanche, Kiowa-Apaches, Arapaho, and Cheyenne warriors from the Oklahoma Fort Sill Reservation into Texas. On May 18, the Indians attacked a wagon train belonging to Henry Warren, killing all but the five who escaped. Commanding General of the United States Army William Tecumseh Sherman, personally arrested Satank, Satanta, and Big Tree at Fort Sill and had them tried in civil court in Jacksboro. Satank was killed in an attempted escape, and others were found guilty and sentenced to hang. Their sentences were commuted by Governor Edmund J. Davis at the request of a group of Quakers, and they were later paroled. The incident was a key element that led to the Red River War.
Explorers and settlers
Spanish explorer Diego Ortiz Parrilla the county en route to the Taovaya Indian Village on Red River. Pedro Vial came through the region in 1789 while charting the Santa Fe Trail.
The county was included in the 1841 Republic of Texas empresario Peters Colony land grant. The Young County portion of the grant remained unsettled until the 1850s.
In 1851 Bvt. Brig. Gen. William G. Belknap founded the United States Army Fort Belknap. The fort was surrendered to the Confederacy in 1861, and reoccupied by federal troops in 1867. John Peveler and Will Peveler establish a ranch two miles (3 km) below Fort Belknap, becoming the first settlers.
County established
Young County was established by the Texas Legislature in 1856 from Bosque and Fannin counties and organized later that same year. Belknap became the county seat. Many of the citizens abandoned the area during the American Civil War due to Indian depredations. In 1865 the county's government was dissolved, and the county records were transferred to Jacksboro. The county was reorganized in 1874, and the county records were brought back from Jacksboro. This time the new town of Graham, platted in 1873, was chosen as the county seat.
Gustavus and Edwin Graham began the town of Graham 1872, and opened the saltworks in 1869. An 1876 area rancher meeting in Graham, regarding cattle rustling, became the beginnings of what is now known as the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. In 1891 a group of investors formed the Graham Mining Company in hopes of mining gold, silver, and coal in the area.
Between 1874 and 1910, railroad lines contributed to the county economy and facilitated transportation, including the Texas and Pacific Railway, the Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf Railway, the Wichita Falls and Southern, and the Gulf, Texas and Western Railroad.
Federal programs came to the assistance of farmers and ranchers during the Great Depression. The Work Projects Administration restored old Fort Belknap in 1936. In the 1930s, Young County also joined sixty-five other counties to form the Brazos River Conservation and Reclamation District. Oil exploration and production opened the 20th Century. and saw Lindy Lou No. 1 well come in. Actual production of petroleum began in 1920, boom towns sprang up around the county. By 1990 - 3,431,000 barrels (545,500 m3) had been produced.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 931 square miles (2,410 km2), of which 914 square miles (2,370 km2) is land and 16 square miles (41 km2) (1.8%) is water.
Major highways
U.S. Highway 380
State Highway 16
State Highway 67
State Highway 79
State Highway 114
Adjacent counties
- Archer County (north)
- Jack County (east)
- Palo Pinto County (southeast)
- Stephens County (south)
- Throckmorton County (west)
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1860 | 592 | — | |
| 1870 | 135 | −77.2% | |
| 1880 | 4,726 | 3,400.7% | |
| 1890 | 5,049 | 6.8% | |
| 1900 | 6,540 | 29.5% | |
| 1910 | 13,657 | 108.8% | |
| 1920 | 13,379 | −2.0% | |
| 1930 | 20,128 | 50.4% | |
| 1940 | 19,004 | −5.6% | |
| 1950 | 16,810 | −11.5% | |
| 1960 | 17,254 | 2.6% | |
| 1970 | 15,400 | −10.7% | |
| 1980 | 19,001 | 23.4% | |
| 1990 | 18,126 | −4.6% | |
| 2000 | 17,943 | −1.0% | |
| 2010 | 18,550 | 3.4% | |
| 2020 | 17,867 | −3.7% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census 1850–2010 2010 2020 |
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2020 census
| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2010 | Pop 2020 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 14,959 | 13,409 | 80.64% | 75.05% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 220 | 174 | 1.19% | 0.97% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 83 | 79 | 0.45% | 0.44% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 55 | 86 | 0.30% | 0.48% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 5 | 0 | 0.03% | 0.00% |
| Some Other Race alone (NH) | 4 | 38 | 0.02% | 0.21% |
| Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) | 179 | 573 | 0.96% | 3.21% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3,045 | 3,508 | 16.42% | 19.63% |
| Total | 18,550 | 17,867 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
Communities
Cities
Unincorporated communities
See also
In Spanish: Condado de Young para niños
