Cochran County

My name is Mary Helen McKnight, and I am Chair of the Cochran County Historical Commission and Cochran County Coordinator for the TXGenWeb Project.

The broader mission of this website is to serve as a historical and genealogical archive for Cochran County, preserving, documenting, and sharing the stories, records, and heritage of our community for present and future generations.

Cochran County was one of the last counties in Texas to be created by the Texas Legislature, and it was the last to be settled, earning it the moniker “Texas’ Last Frontier.”

Through the preservation of photographs, records, obituaries, family histories, and other historical materials, this site seeks to honor the people, places, and events that shaped Cochran County.

We hope this archive will serve as both a useful resource and a meaningful tribute to the history of our county.

Cochran County was created on August 21, 1876, from lands originally assigned to Bexar and Young counties, and was named in honor of Robert E. Cochran, who died defending the Alamo.

The county has a proud ranching heritage, including the XIT, Surratt, Jumbo and Lazy S ranches.

Although created in 1876, Cochran County remained unorganized for nearly fifty years, making it one of the last counties in Texas to be organized and the last to be settled.

In 1900, the county’s population stood at only 25 residents, all of them ranch hands. Significant growth did not come until the late 1920s, when the Slaughter heirs began selling portions of their land to farmers seeking to settle the area.

The county’s early organization was marked by conflict between the large ranching interests and the farmers looking to establish permanent homes. Disputes over the location of the county seat led to two elections, rival sets of commissioners and judges, and ultimately court intervention.

Today, Cochran County’s history remains as rich as it is distinctive, and we are honored to preserve and share it here. We hope the information on this site will be both useful and meaningful to all who visit.

This website would not be possible without the Cochran County Historical Commission, Texas’ Last Frontier Historical Museum in Morton, Texas, and the many generous contributors who have shared their photographs, stories, histories, and other materials.