Clay

Formed December 8, 1857 (119^th county)

Clay County (10,213), Henrietta (3,104)

The red domed Italianate courthouse made of red/brown brick and sandstone was built in 1884.  The large trees on the square surround the building.  Architects W. H. Wilson and Tozer gave the original designs to the structure.  It is located at Bridge and Gilbert streets, north of United States Highway 82.  The building was enlarged in 1891 and remodeled in 1911.  Although the county is organized on December 8, 1857 and reorganized in 1873 with Cambridge identified as the county seat, the current courthouse is the only one to serve the county.  Henrietta became the seat in 1882.  The county was originally part of Cooke County as the 119^th county.  Clay County was named for Henry Clay, American statesman.  The county seat was reportedly named for Clay’s wife, Lucretia. 

Clay County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Clay, Archer, and Montague counties and One County Court Judge serves Clay County.  The county is located in the far north central part of the state.  Its entire northern border is the Red River with Oklahoma on the other side.  Wichita Falls, Texas is in the county to the west.  The county center is 2.2 miles South of Henrietta.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Oklahoma and Montague, Jack, Archer, and Wichita counties. 

The area of the county is 1098 square miles.  It is 50 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 161 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 9.3 persons per square mile making it 173 out of 254 in the state.  Clay County has 49.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 82 enters from the east, Montague County, and exits to the west, Archer County.  United States Highway 287 comes from Montague County on the southeast, joins United States Highway 82 at Henrietta, and goes into Archer County.  Except for the northern border, the remainder of the county is a tall rectangle.  Henrietta is near to the center in the county.  Henrietta is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 30.4% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced HEN-REE-ET-TA.  This county is in the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Windthorst