Donley

Formed August 21, 1876 (187^th county)

Donley County (3,261), Clarendon (1,878)                

The castle appearance of the Romanesque Revival courthouse makes it stand out in the panhandle.  It was built in 1894 and is the only courthouse for the county since its August 21, 1876 organizing.  It is at Jefferson and 3^rd Streets south of United States Highway 287.  Charles H. Bulger and Isaac H. Rapp provided the designs for the building.  The structure was remodeled in 1936 and restored in 2003.  A Courthouse Annex was built in 1975.  Donley County was originally part of Bexar County as the 187^th county. 

Donley County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Donley, Carson, Childress, Collingsworth, and Hall counties and One County Court Judge serves Donley County.  The county is located in the panhandle southeast of Amarillo, Texas.  The Salt Fork of the Red River crosses through the northern part of the county.  The county center is 7.6 miles Northeast of Clarendon.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Gray, Wheeler, Collingsworth, Hall, Briscoe, Armstrong, and Carson counties.  Confederate veteran and Texas Supreme Court judge, Stockton P. Donley is county’s namesake.  Clarendon gets its name from the wife of an original settler whose name was Clara. 

The area of the county is 930 square miles.  It is 100 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 219 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 3.5 persons per square mile making it 212 out of 254 in the state.  Donley County has 77.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 40 crosses the extreme north of the county from east to west coming out of and going back into Gray County.  United States Highway 287 goes diagonally from the southeast, Hall County, to the west, Armstrong County.  The county is square like most of the counties in the panhandle.  Clarendon is in the west half of the county.  Clarendon is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 57.6% of the county population.  The county is pronounced DON-LEE.  The county seat is pronounced CLA-REN-DUN.