Located
in southwest Texas, Pecos County
is the second largest county in
the state, covering over 4,700
square miles. In 2000, the
population of the county was
16,809. The county seat is
located in Fort Stockton. With a
population of 7,846, Fort
Stockton is the largest town in
Pecos County. Other communities
include Bakersfield, Coyanosa,
Iraan, Imperial, Sheffield, and
Girvin. A small church group
settled at St. Gall, Texas, in
1845, and Fort Lancaster was
built near the river in 1855.
The first permanent settlement
was a United States Army
outpost, Fort Stockton, which
was established in 1859 at
Comanche Springs to guard the
San Antonio-El Paso Mail. That
same year the Butterfield
Overland Mail began
service to the army post. The
town of St. Gall, later renamed
Fort Stockton, was established
near the Fort Stockton army post
at Comanche Springs by Peter
Gallagher, who purchased land
for a town site in 1868. St.
Gall became a supply center for
the army, mail stages, wagon
trains, and travelers. One of
the first modern attempts at
irrigation farming in Texas took
place near the settlement in the
1870s. The land of Pecos County
was originally in Bexar
Territory and later part of
Presidio County. Pecos County
was established by the Texas
legislature in 1871. The county
was formally organized on March
9, 1875, at St. Gall, which
became the county seat. There
were 1,100 people living in the
county that year. The United
States agricultural census for
1880 reported 150 ranches and
farms in the area. Most holdings
were less than ten acres in
size, and all but one had less
than 500 acres; the average
holding was sixty-one acres.
About 2,500 acres in the county
were planted in corn that year,
along with seven acres of oats
and twenty acres of wheat.
During the 1880s St. Gall was
renamed Fort Stockton, and the
army post closed, causing a
temporary economic slump in the
county due to lost trade and
employment.
In
1980 Fort Stockton had a
broad-based economy and a
population of 8,868. In addition
to its irrigated agriculture and
extensive ranches, it had become
a major center for the
production, processing, and
distribution of oil, gas, and
sulfur. Its historic sites,
including Comanche Springs, the
remains of the old fort, and the
Annie Riggs Memorial Museum, are
tourist attractions. In 1990 the
population was 8,524.,
In 2000 the population was
7,846.