Formed January 22, 1858 (147th county)
Wilbarger County (12,891), Vernon (10,084)
The West Texas Classical Revival courthouse in Vernon was built in 1928. It is on the square at Wilbarger and Main streets. United States Highway 283 is Main Street through the city. Voelcker and Dixon were the architects of the concrete and limestone facility. Vernon has been the home for all three courthouses since the January 22, 1858 organization of the county, the previous one was built in 1890. The county was cut from Bexar County as the 147th county. Wilbarger County was named for early Texas pioneers Josiah Pugh and Mathias Wilbarger. The county seat was named for George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon. It is the same source for the county seat of Franklin County.
Wilbarger County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners. One District Court Judge serves Wilbarger, Foard, and Hardeman counties and One County Court Judge serves Wilbarger County. The county is far north central Texas on the border with Oklahoma. Wichita Falls, Texas is just to the southeast and Amarillo, Texas is to the northwest. The Red River is the northern border of the county. The county center is 5.6 miles South of Vernon. The county is surrounded clockwise by Oklahoma and Wichita, Archer, Baylor, Foard, and Hardeman counties.
The area of the county is 971 square miles. It is 80 out of 254 in the state. It ranks 149 out of 254 in population in the state. It has a density of 13.3 persons per square mile making it 157 out of 254 in the state. Wilbarger County has 78.2% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 70 enters from Oklahoma, north, and exits into Foard County, west. United States Highway 183 is joined with United States Highway 70 from Oklahoma on the north, splits at Vernon, and exits into Baylor County on the south. United States Highway 283 comes from the north (Oklahoma), joins United States Highway 183 in Vernon, and goes into Baylor County. United States Highway 287 crosses diagonally from Wichita County, southeast, into Hardeman County, northwest. The county is rectangular on three sides with the river border providing a northwest to southeast overall slope. Vernon is slightly west of center in the county. Vernon is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 78.2% of the county population. The county is pronounced WILL-BAR-GUR. This county is in the Vernon Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Vernon
