In 1876, theTexas Legislature established Armstrong County from portions ofBexar County, and it organized in 1890 with Claude as the county seat.[5][4]
In 1876,Charles Goodnight brought a herd of 1,600 cattle into the Palo Duro Canyon, and he andJohn George Adair established ranching in the county. The JA Ranch encompassed over a million acres (4,000 km2), spread over Armstrong County and five adjoining counties. The county land use was primarily ranch-related, even after the trickling in of homesteaders, for the remainder of the 19th century.[6]
In 1887, the JA Ranch split up, giving way to a terminus for theFort Worth and Denver City Railway. The first town from the ranch wasGoodnight.[7] Landowner Robert E. Montgomery platted the town of Washburn, named after railroad executive D.W. Washburn.[8]
The next year, railroad lines turned Washburn into a boom town. In the same year, Armstrong City was renamedClaude in honor of railroad engineer Claude Ayers.[9] In 1890, the two towns competed for the county seat, with Claude winning.
At the beginning of the 20th century, ranching began to share the land with cotton and wheat crops, although ranching remained the leading industry. TheGreat Depression had a severe effect on the county's economy, and recovery took years. Ranches still occupied about 68% of the land in the county in 2005.[5]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 914 square miles (2,370 km2), of which 4.7 sq mi (12 km2) (0.5%) are covered by water.[13]
Armstrong County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition 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 may be of any race.
As of thecensus[31] of 2000, 2,148 people, 802 households, and 612 families resided in the county. Thepopulation density was 2 people per square mile (0.77 people/km2). The 920 housing units averaged 1 units per square mile (0.39/km2). Theracial makeup of the county was 95.44% White, 0.28% Black or African American, 0.65% Native American, 2.79% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. About 5.40% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Of the 802 households, 33.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.20% were married couples living together, 6.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.60% were non-families. About 21.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the county, the population was distributed as 26.00% under the age of 18, 6.10% from 18 to 24, 24.80% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 19.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.30 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $38,194, and for a family was $43,894. Males had a median income of $30,114 versus $21,786 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $17,151. About 7.90% of families and 10.60% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 15.80% of those under age 18 and 11.60% of those age 65 or over.
The currentsheriff of Armstrong County is Melissa Anderson.[32] She is assisted by three full time deputies. The Armstrong Sheriff's Office no longer operates a county jail, as it was closed in April 2022.
The old Armstrong County Jail, located inClaude, Texas was erected in 1953 with the designs of Lawrence A. Kerr and Clayton B. Shiver. It was built withstone quarried 14 miles to the south of Claude inPalo Duro Canyon that was recycled from the demolition of the former jail built in 1893. The jail housed inmates on the second floor and the first floor formerly served as the home of the Sheriff, though it was converted in to office space. The jail was also the location of the county'spublic-safety answering point (PSAP) and dispatch center.[citation needed]
^abcAbbe, Donald R."Armstrong County".Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.Archived from the original on December 21, 2010. RetrievedDecember 13, 2010.
^Hagen, William Thomas (2007). "Launching the JA Ranch 1877-1880".Charles Goodnight: Father of the Texas Panhandle. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 45–60.ISBN978-0-8061-3827-5.
