Cooke

Formed February 1, 1848 (69^th county)

Cooke County (38,437), Gainesville (16,002)

The tall dome to the Beaux Arts courthouse can be seen from Interstate 35 which runs just west of the building.  Located on the square at the corner of Main and Commerce, this structure was built in 1911 and renovated in 2006.  Lang and Witchell were the designers of the red brick and limestone building.  Organized on February 1, 1848, Cooke County has had four courthouses (1850, 1853, 1880 and 1911,) all located in Gainesville.  The county was originally part of Fannin County and the 69^th county.  The county got its name from William G. Cooke, a captain at San Jacinto and later Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas.  Gainesville was named for early Texas military leader, Edmund Pendleton Gaines.  Gaines County does not have the same namesake. 

Cooke County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge and Two County Court Judges serve Cooke County.  The county is situated along the Red River with Oklahoma across the border.  Fort Worth, Texas is south and Dallas, Texas southeast.  The county center is in Gainesville 2.4 miles Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Oklahoma and Grayson, Denton, Wise, and Montague counties. 

The area of the county is 899 square miles.  It is 169 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 78 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 42.76 persons per square mile making it 80 out of 254 in the state.  Cooke County has 51.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 crosses north to south from Oklahoma into Denton County.  United States Highway 82 enters from Grayson County on the east and exits into Montague County on the west.  The remaining borders are straight.  The county’s unusual stretches of land formed by the Red River put Gainesville actually a little south of geographic county center.  Gainesville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 41.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Gainesville Micropolitan Statistical Area.