Terry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,831. Its county seat is Brownfield. The county was demarked in 1876 and organized in 1904. It is named for Benjamin Franklin Terry, a colonel in the Confederate Army. Terry County was one of 46 dry counties in the state of Texas, but is now a moist county. Terry County is one of the most productive pumpkin producing counties in the United States.
History
Terry County was formed from Bexar County in 1876 and named for Col. Benjamin Franklin Terry, who commanded the Terry's Texas Rangers in the Civil War.
In 1877, the ill-fated Nolan Expedition crossed the county in search of livestock stolen by Comanche renegades. The various Indian tribes had moved on by the time of white settlement, due to the depletion of the buffalo herds by hunters.
Terry County was organized in 1904, with Brownfield as the county seat.
The county was settled by ranchers such as Ira J. Coulver, J. R. Quinn, Englishman Q. Bone, and Marion V. Brownfield.
In 1991, Terry County was among the leading cotton counties in Texas.
Major highways
- 20px U.S. Highway 62
- 20px U.S. Highway 82
- 25px U.S. Highway 380
- 25px U.S. Highway 385
- 20px State Highway 137
Adjacent counties
- Hockley County (north)
- Lynn County (east)
- Dawson County (southeast)
- Gaines County (south)
- Yoakum County (west)
- Cochran County (northwest)
- Lubbock County (northeast)