Upton County, Texas

Upton County, Texas
The Upton County Courthouse in Rankin
Location in the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1910
Seat	Rankin
Largest city	McCamey
Area
• Total	1,242 sq mi (3,217 km2)
• Land	1,241 sq mi (3,214 km2)
• Water	0.2 sq mi (1 km2), 0.01%
Population
• (2010)	3,355
• Density	2.7/sq mi (1/km²)
Congressional district	23rd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.upton.tx.us

Upton County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,355. Its county seat is Rankin. The county was created in 1887 and later organized in 1910. It is named for two brothers: John C. and William F. Upton, both colonels in the Confederate Army.

Indigenous peoples were the first inhabitants of the area. Later Indian tribes included Comanches, Apache.

One of the first routes bringing people through the area was the Chihuahua Trail connecting Mexico's state of Chihuahua with Santa Fe, New Mexico. The trail served as a trade route for nomadic tribes of Indians and Spaniards, as well as traders from both Mexico and Texas.

The Butterfield Overland Mail crossed the area 1858–1861.

Cattle drive Goodnight-Loving Trail. served cowboys 1866-1888. The trail began at Young County, Texas and passed along the Pecos River, Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and Colorado before ending in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Upton was formed in 1887 from Tom Green County, Texas. The county was named after John C. Upton and his brother William F. Upton. of Tennessee. Cattleman George Elliott became the first to establish a homestead in Upton County in 1880. Beginning as open range, the land was shared with sheepmen by the 1890s. The United States Census counted fifty-two people living in the county in 1890, and only forty-eight in 1900; most of these were either members of three families, or were in their employ. The agricultural sector of the county has been out-paced by cattle and sheep ranching. In 1982, about 92 percent of the land in Upton County was in farms and ranches, but less than 1 percent of the county was considered prime farmland, and only 2 percent of the county was cultivated. In the fall of 1911, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway reached the townsite of Rankin, and by January 1912, most of the people living in Upland had moved to Rankin.