The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 54, July 1950 - April, 1951 Page: 219

Notes and Documents

alls County
ROY EDDINS
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS
FALLS COUNTY, on the Blackland Prairies of East Central
Texas, except for the eastern part, which is on the Post
Oak Belt, has about sixty varieties of soils. Its topography
is level to rolling, and the county is bisected by the Brazos River,
Texas' largest stream. Its altitude varies from 350 to 400 feet, and
the average rainfall is 38.22 inches per annum. The mean tem-
perature is 67.6 degrees, and the growing season is of 249 days
duration.
Soils are mostly black waxy, loam, and sandy. Most of its trees
are cottonwood, post oak, live oak, elm, pecan, ash, hickory, and
mesquite. It has clay, suitable for the manufacture of brick, and
limestone.
Chief crops are cotton, grain sorghums, oats, cover crops, to-
matoes, peas, watermelons, corn, alfalfa, and other fruit and
truck crops-for sale and canning.
Its livestock include beef cattle, dairy cattle, poultry, horses,
hogs and some sheep and goats.
Falls County's area is 761 square miles and its unofficial 1950
population, according to the local newspapers, is 26,382 (34.6
persons for each square mile).
COURTHOUSES
First courthouse (1850-1855) -a log cabin, perhaps, one room.
Second courthouse (1855-until it burned about 1870) -built
of cedar, cut from a grove of cedar trees, which once grew about
two miles south of Big Creek, between Marlin and Reagan, at
what was called "Hog Island." It burned about 1870, and many
valuable records were lost, causing considerable inconvenience
to the people.
Third courthouse (1876-1887) -built of brick, started as a one-
story building and completed as two-story. It was condemned as
unsafe about 1884, following a severe storm.

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