History
Oldham County was formed in 1876 and organized in 1880, and named for Williamson Simpson Oldham, a Texas pioneer and Confederate Senator. At the time of its organization, nearly the entire county was a part of the XIT Ranch. The county seat was originally at the town of Tascosa, which in the 1880s was one of the largest towns in the Panhandle. As the railroads came through the county, however, they bypassed Tascosa; several new towns and farms sprang up along the rail lines, and by 1915 Tascosa had a courthouse and almost no residents; the county seat was moved to Vega, Texas that year.
Oldham County is primarily ranch and farm land, with many thousands of acres planted in wheat, the major crop. The county also has some petroleum production and large wind farms.
In 1902, the Matador Ranch acquired the 210,000 acres (850 km2) Alamositas Ranch in Oldham County. At its peak, the Matador owned 90,000 cattle and had title to 879,000 acres (3,560 km2) of land in parts of four Texas counties.
Read more about this topic: Oldham County, Texas
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“All things are moral. That soul, which within us is a sentiment, outside of us is a law. We feel its inspiration; out there in history we can see its fatal strength.”
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