Fisher County, Texas

Fisher County, Texas
The Fisher County Courthouse
Location in the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1886
Named for	Samuel Rhoads Fisher
Seat	Roby
Largest city	Rotan
Area
• Total	902 sq mi (2,336 km2)
• Land	899 sq mi (2,328 km2)
• Water	2.8 sq mi (7 km2), 0.3%
Population
• (2010)	3,974
• Density	4.4/sq mi (2/km²)
Congressional district	19th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.fisher.tx.us

Fisher County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,974. The county seat is Roby. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1886. It is named for Samuel Rhoads Fisher, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and a Secretary of the Navy of the Republic of Texas. Fisher County is one of 30 prohibition, or entirely dry, counties in the state of Texas.

Republican Drew Springer, Jr., a businessman from Muenster in Cooke County, has since January 2013 represented Fisher County in the Texas House of Representatives.

From 1921 to 1925, the Democrat Richard M. Chitwood of Sweetwater, represented Fisher County in the state House. He left his post to become the first business manager of Texas Tech University but died the next year.

History

• 10000 b.c. Paleo-Indians first inhabitants. Later native American inhabitants include the Pawnee, Wichita and Waco, Lipan Apache, Kiowa and Comanche.
• 1876 The Texas legislature forms Fisher County from Bexar districts. The new county is named after Samuel Rhoads Fisher.
• 1880 The census reports 136 inhabitants, 24,164.
• 1881 The Texas and Pacific Railway routes an east-west branch through Eskota.
• 1885 Town of Fisher is registered. Swedish immigrants found the community of Swedonia.
• 1886 Town of North Roby is registered. Roby eventually wins the county seat election over Fisher, but it is later discovered that one of the voters, a Mr. Bill Purp, is actually a dog whose owner lives near Roby.
• 1920 Fisher County is among Texas leaders in wheat production.
• 1926 Cotton becomes king, as 48,000 bales are ginned in the county.
• 1928 Oil is discovered in the county.
• 1970 The county's average annual farm income is evenly divided between livestock and crops.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 902 square miles (2,340 km²), of which 899 square miles (2,330 km²) is land and 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²) (0.3%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 180
• State Highway 70
• State Highway 92

Adjacent counties

• Stonewall County (north)
• Jones County (east)
• Nolan County (south)
• Scurry County (west)
• Kent County (northwest)
• Taylor County (southeast)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1880	136		—
1890	2,996		2,102.9%
1900	2,708		−9.6%
1910	12,596		365.1%
1920	11,009		−12.6%
1930	13,563		23.2%
1940	12,932		−4.7%
1950	11,023		−14.8%
1960	7,865		−28.6%
1970	6,344		−19.3%
1980	5,891		−7.1%
1990	4,842		−17.8%
2000	4,344		−10.3%
2010	3,974		−8.5%
Est. 2014	3,831		−3.6%
U.S. Decennial Census 1850–2010 2010–2014

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,344 people, 1,785 households, and 1,244 families residing in the county. The population density was 5 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 2,277 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 83.75% White, 2.76% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 11.58% from other races, and 1.40% from two or more races. 21.36% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,785 households out of which 27.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.90% were married couples living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.30% were non-families. 28.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.93.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.90% under the age of 18, 6.30% from 18 to 24, 23.00% from 25 to 44, 24.10% from 45 to 64, and 22.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 92.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,659, and the median income for a family was $34,907. Males had a median income of $25,071 versus $20,536 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,120. About 13.50% of families and 17.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.40% of those under age 18 and 10.50% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

• Hamlin
• Hobbs
• McCaulley
• North Roby
• Roby (county seat)
• Rotan
• Sylvester

See also

• Dry counties
• Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
• Clear Fork Brazos River
• Salt Fork Brazos River
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Fisher County, Texas

External links

• Fisher County government's website
• Fisher County from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Fisher County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties