Terry County

Duane's take

Now here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Terry County, so lean in close. You know how it goes out here in West Texas, where the land holds names like a long memory. Terry County was formed from Young and Bexar territories, created on August 21, 1876.

But here's where the story pauses just a moment, because that county sat out there, officially drawn on the map, for nearly three decades before anybody got around to organizing it. June 28, 1904, that's when it finally came together as a functioning county. Some things take time, and West Texas has always known that.

Now the name, Terry County, that belongs to Colonel Benjamin Franklin Terry, born in 1821, gone by 1861. The marker calls him the leader of the famous Terry's Texas Rangers, and famous is not too strong a word for that outfit. The county seat is Brownfield, and if you're passing through today, you'll find this is primarily a farming area, same as it's ever been, quiet and wide and working.

A county named for a colonel, shaped from two territories, organized in its own sweet time. That's Terry County, and that's the story the marker tells.

What the marker says

Formed from Young and Bexar territories; created August 21, 1876, organized June 28, 1904. Named in honor of Colonel Benjamin Franklin Terry 1821-1861. Leader of the famous Terry's Texas Rangers. Brownfield, the county seat primarily a farming area.