Crosby County

Mount Blanco in Crosby County, Texas

Mount Blanco in Crosby County, Texas

Mount Blanco is located on the Caprock escarpment off Farm Road 193, fifty-five miles northeast of Lubbock in northern Crosby County. Photograph by Leaflet.
Crosby County, Texas

Crosby County, Texas

Map of Crosby County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Crosby County is on the eastern edge of the southern High Plains, bounded on the west by Lubbock County, on the north by Floyd County, on the east by Dickens County, and on the south by Garza County. It was named for Stephen Crosby, a Texas land commissioner during the mid-nineteenth century. U.S. Highway 82 runs west to east across the county, and State highways 207 and 651 are major north-to-south roads. The center of the county lies at 33°37' north latitude and 101°18' west longitude, about thirty miles east of Lubbock. Most of the western half of Crosby County, flat land covered by rich loam, lies above the Caprock, and the eastern part of the county and its southwestern corner are broken country below the Caprock. Drainage is to the forks of the Brazos River, White River, and numerous playas. Blanco Canyon crosses the county from northwest to southeast; at Mount Blanco the canyon is about 250 feet deep and 1½ miles wide, and is traversed by the White River. The county covers 911 square miles; its altitude ranges from 2,100 to 3,200 feet, and the average annual rainfall is 21.01 inches. Vegetation includes mesquite, hackberry, cottonwood, cedar, catclaw, cacti, and grasses, particularly curly mesquite, grama, salt, and sage. The average minimum temperature in January is 26° F; the average maximum in July is 94°. A growing season of 206 days yields $45 million average annual income from cotton, sorghums, wheat, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, cattle, hogs, and poultry. Irrigated land totals 125,000 acres.

Artifacts dating back 13,000 years to the early Paleolithic era have been discovered in Crosby County. Flint-pointed darts used with the atlatl (a type of spear-thrower) have been found and identified as Clovis, Eden, Agate Basin, Angostura, Folsom, Plainview, Meserve, Scottsbluff, and Sandia points. The darts were used to hunt the mammoth, mastodon, saber-toothed tiger, and giant ground sloth, all of which disappeared some 8,000 years ago. The early people of the area were rovers who hunted and gathered plants and differed from neighboring peoples in weapons and tools. In more modern times the area of Crosby County was inhabited by the Comanches, mounted hunters and warriors who dominated much of the South Plains in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries until their buffalo-based culture gave way to settlers and superior technology.

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John Leffler | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Crosby County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

2250 ft – 3235 ft

Size

Land area does not include water surface area, whereas total area does

  • Land Area: 900.2 mi²
  • Total Area: 901.7 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 25.9°F
July mean maximum: 92.3°F

Rainfall, 2019

23.3 inches

Population Count, 2019

5,737

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

2,332

Unemployment, 2019

5.2%

Property Values, 2019

$919,198,006 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$30,773 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$38,191,066 USD

Wages, 2019

$14,647,709 USD

Crosby County

Highlighted:
  • Crosby County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
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Town 6 (2009) Yes
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Town 1,488 (2021) Yes
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Town 83 (2009) Yes
Lake Yes
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