Bosque County is bordered by Erath and Somervell counties to the north, Johnson and Hill counties to the east, McLennan and Coryell counties to the south, and Hamilton County to the west. Bosque County is an agrarian area that covers 989 square miles. As a part of the Grand Prairie subdivision of the North Central Plains, the land is primarily an area of shallow to deep, well-drained soils underlain by limestone. Around the streams are deep, well-drained and moderately well-drained soils. Many believe that the soil is the most important natural resource of the county because the life of the livestock and the flora and fauna depend heavily upon it.

The first exploring expedition that recorded travel in this area was made in 1721 by the Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo, a Spaniard who established many missions in Texas. In one trip from San Antonio de Béxar to an East Texas mission, he ventured away from the regular road, the Old San Antonio Road, and wandered north. During this time he camped near the Brazos River and a major tributary. He named this tributary Bosque, Spanish for “woods.”

Settlement of the area began in 1825 when Sterling C. Robertson obtained a grant from the Mexican government in order to colonize the area along the Brazos River. In 1847, a prominent banker from New York, Richard B. Kimball, obtained a grant of land from the state of Texas along the west bank of the Brazos river fourteen miles north of the mouth of the Paluxy River. Soon, Kimball formed a partnership with Jacob De Cordova in order to develop this land. They planned to establish a town so that they could lure prospective settlers to move to the area. A site was chosen along the Brazos River where there was a shallow ford. They named the town after Kimball. Since this was the best spot to cross the river for miles, many east-to-west travelers came through town. The location of Kimball, therefore, made it a good stopping place for settlers, ranchers, and cowboys. Following a somewhat prosperous start, however, Kimball was missed by the railroads that were built in the county later in the decade; therefore, the town quickly declined, and only a few people remain there today.

In 1850 the Universal Immigration Company of England purchased 27,000 acres of land from Richard Kimball and laid out a townsite on the west bank of the Brazos. In the late 1850s, the company sent over 30 families, comprising approximately 120 people. They settled under a massive rock formation called Solomon’s Nose. They named their idealistic colony Kent. Unfortunately, the first harsh winter caused many hardships that led to a high number of fatalities. During the following spring, in their last attempts to survive as a community, they bought several cattle and some seed corn; however, they failed to build a fence around the crop and the cows ate all of the corn before it could be harvested. The settlement quickly broke up, and the colonists migrated separately to other areas.

Bosque County was officially formed in February 1854 from McLennan County. Town lots were sold at a public auction on the Fourth of July 1854. Soon thereafter, the first courthouse, a one-story log cabin, was erected in the middle of town. This building served the needs of the residents until 1869, when a larger frame structure was built. In 1871 this second courthouse burned. For four years the business of the county was conducted in a tent. In 1875 the third, and present, courthouse was completed, a three-story structure of native stone.

The county began to make progress in the decades following the Civil War. But lawlessness, including the killing of freedmen, flourished. In early 1870 the situation was so bad that the Austin Daily State Journal reported Bosque County was averaging two killings each week. Bosque County whites blamed the Republican government for these problems; the Democratic party has dominated the county ever since. The only break occurred in 1928, when they opposed Democratic candidate Alfred Smith because he was a Catholic with New York mannerisms. In November 1932 the county joined the voters of Texas and the rest of the nation to give Franklin D. Roosevelt an overwhelming victory at the polls.

During the 1980s, Bosque County grew in population and economy. In the late 1970s and 1980s residents of Clifton, the largest town, carried out “Operation Comeback.” The town grew by 40 percent in population and more than 100 percent in businesses. The town renovated old buildings in order to open a modern home for senior citizens, established Goodall-Witcher Hospital, and opened a 150-employee garment factory, an oilfield-tool manufacturing plant, and a 100-employee lime plant.

(The information above is excerpted from the Handbook of Texas, an encyclopedia published by the Texas State Historical Association. The Handbook can be accessed on-line at http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/ online/index.new.html. Copies of the two-volume set may be obtained by contacting the history organization at 512-232-1513.)