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Clairemont Courthouse photo courtesy of txdot |
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Kent County seat is Jayton, and the county is named for Andrew Kent, who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Kent County is one of 46 prohibition or entirely dry counties in the state of Texas. |
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Kent County was marked off in 1876 from Bexar and Young counties and named for Andrew Kent, one of the so-called "Immortal Thirty-two"
from Gonzales, who became immortal by dying at the Alamo (some scholars question that the number was thirty-two,
or that they were all from Gonzales). Until Kent County was organized, Scurry County assumed the duties of judicial
administration. Cattleman R. L. Rhomberg settled in Kent County in 1888 and named a midcounty settlement Clairemont
for his daughter, Claire. The county did not attract many settlers. In 1890 the census counted only 324 residents,
scattered over forty-eight farms and ranches. Kent County was organized in 1892 with Clairemont as the county seat,
and settlement accelerated. By 1900, 899 people lived in the county and 134 farms and ranches had been established.
Oats (3,330 acres) and corn (1,069 acres) were the county's most popular crops, but the cattle business continued
to dominate the economy; almost 29,600 cattle were counted in Kent County that year. In 1909 the Stamford and Northeastern
Railway built a line across the county's northeast corner. The railroad, which connected Stamford and Spur, later
became part of the Wichita Valley Railroad. As the railroad encouraged the settlement of Swedes and others, Jayton
was founded in the eastern part of the county in 1909. By 1910 Kent County included 326 farms, and the county population
had reached 2,655.Jayton became the county seat in 1954, after a two-year political struggle. Clairemont's growth
had long been retarded by lack of rail service, and after 1954 the town was largely abandoned
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