Irion County

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'll give it to you straight with a little road dust on top. We're talkin' about Irion County, and the story starts with a date you can hang your hat on: March 7, 1889. That's the day this county was created.

Then, just forty days later, on April 16, 1889, it was organized. Forty days from creation to organization. Some counties took years to get themselves sorted out.

Irion County did not have that problem. Now, the name. This county carries the name of Robert Anderson Irion, born in 1806, died in 1860.

And the man earned it. Irion came to Texas in 1833 and put down roots at Nacogdoches. That's early, friends.

That is early Texas. He became a member of the first Texas Congress. Let that sit a moment.

The very first one. And then he rose further still, serving as Secretary of State in the cabinet of President Houston, from 1837 to 1838. Secretary of State.

Cabinet level. In the government of the Republic of Texas itself. So when the people who named this county were lookin' for a name worth puttin' on a map, they reached back to a man who had been there at the very beginning, shaping what Texas was going to be.

The county seat is Sherwood. No fanfare in that last line, just the quiet weight of a place that knows who it's named for.

What the marker says

Created March 7, 1889. Organized April 16, 1889. Named in honor of Robert Anderson Irion, 1806-1860. Came to Texas in 1833 and located at Nacogdoches. Member of the first Texas Congress. Secretary of State in the cabinet of President Houston, 1837-1838. Sherwood, the county seat.