Welcome to Texas Genealogy Trails! *Volunteers dedicated to putting free data online* This Hockley County Website is hosted by Erny Long. I have a rich ancestral heritage in Hockley County, with many of my "Long" ancestors buried in the Levelland cemetery and roots going back into the late 1920's.  If interested in joining our group, view our Volunteer Information Page and contact Kim. [Basic webpage design knowledge and a desire to transcribe data is required]
Site Updated 21 May 2012 We regret that we cannot perform personal research for anybody
In 1876 the Texas legislature formed Hockley County from lands formerly assigned to Bexar and Young counties. Because settlers were slow to move into the area, however, the county was assigned to Lubbock County for administrative purposes until 1920.  Today, its county seat is Levelland, and the county is named for George Washington Hockley, a Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas.
Much of the history of the area revolves around Yellow House Canyon. The Comanches, hunting buffalo and attacking enemies, watered at the springs in the canyon for decades before white men took an interest in the region; the canyon lay along a north-south trail between New Mexico and Mexico. In 1879 a squad of Texas Rangers led by Capt. George W. Arrington found Yellow House Canyon during a fierce blizzard.
The Causeys were the first settlers in the area; after several years of buffalo hunting in Kansas and Texas, they established a base at Yellow House Canyon in 1877 and built the first house in the county. When the buffalo herds were depleted, the Causeys went into the bone business, and in 1882 they established a ranch. In 1885, however, the XIT Ranch, one of the state's largest cattle-raising ventures, was founded in the area, and the Causeys were forced to move.
Cities and towns
Anton Levelland Opdyke West Pettit Pep Sundown	Ropesville Smyer Whitharral Clauene Coble Roundup
ONLINE DATA Site updated 30 May 2012    Mockingbird State Bird If you have information that you'd like to share about any town, family, county or subject, please send it to us and we'll make sure it gets posted to the right county.  We are looking for Census, Births, Deaths, Marriages, Biographies, Obituaries, and Newspaper Stories,   Email me
Click here to select another county Surrounding Counties Lamb County (north) Lubbock County (east) Terry County (south) Cochran County (west) Back to the TEXAS GENEALOGY TRAILS Main site Visit the national site of GENEALOGY TRAILS All data on this website is © Copyright 2012 by Genealogy Trails with full rights reserved for original submitters.