1927 The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide Page: 52
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52' THE TEXAS ALMANAC.
view and Lufkin in the central and mid-
northern parts. Nearer the Red River are
Texarkana, Clarksville and Bonham. Near
the dividing line between the East Texas
timber belt and the black prairies are
Paris, Greenville, Terrell, Kaufman, Cor-
sicana and Mexia.
East Texas is not a boom territory, but
it has witnessed substantial growth be-
tween 1910 and 1920 as shown by the re-
turns of the last census, and there has
been a steady growth since 1920. With
its excellent soils, abundant water, mild
climate and inexhaustible fuel supply,
East Texas -should make great strides in
the future.
North Central Texas.
Passing westward from the East Texas
timbered belt, one enters what is general-
ly designated as North Central Texas. It
is not as definitely bounded in popular
conception as are some of the other sec-
tions of the State because it is not co-
extensive with the limits of any one soil
belt. It covers in general terms the
northern ends of the black land and
grand prairies with the narrow slip of
the east cross timbers which intervenes
between them. This is the most thickly
settled, most highly industrialized and
probably, in general terms, the best im-
proved portion of Texas. Its two great
cities, Dallas and Fort Worth, are centers
of networks of steam railroad and elec-
tric interurban lines and paved highways.
The black lands, which may be said to
cover the eastern part of North Central
Texas (as well as extending through
Central Texas) are the most thickly set-
tied, moqt generally cultivated of all
Texas lands. This territory has within its
limits several of the principal cotton pro-
ducing counties of Texas, such as Ellis,
Dallas, Collin and Grayson. In the west-
ern part of the North Central Texas re-
gion lies the Grand Prairie, a rolling,
open country excellently adapted to cot-
ton, corn, wheat, oats, dairying, stock
farming and poultry raising. Aside from
the two large centers, Dallas and Fort
Worth, there are a number of growing
cities of appreciable size, including Sher-
man, Denison, Denton, McKinney, MWaxa-
hachie, Greenville, Cotsicana and Hills-
bore.
Fertile Soils.
This territory owes its great wealth and
population today to the fertility of the
soils, especially the black lands, and their
ready adaptability to cultivation. Aside
from Southern and Eastern Texas it was
the first of the great agricultural regions
of the State to be settled by the west-
ward marching pioneers. North Central
Texas lies usually between 300 and 800
feet above sea level, and the rainfall
ranges around thirty-five inches annu-
ally. The soils are not as adaptable to
varied cultivation as are the sands of
East Texas, but they are better producers
of cotton, corn, wheat and oats. Because
of the large urban population in this ter-
ritory there is a highly developed truck
farming industry nevertheless, and in the
western part of this section much atten-
tion is' paid to stock farming and dairying
and poultry raising.
The mineral resources of North Central
Texas are not great, though the great pe-
troleum fields at Corsicana and Mexia lie
on its southeast and the widespread oil
producing territory of Western Texas liesalong what may be designated as the
western line of this section.
There are excellent limestones and
marls from which much of the Portland
cement used in Texas is produced, and
some of the largest brick manufacturing
plants in the State are located here.
This section of the State gives promise
of great industrial expansion. Already at
the center of a great network of rail-
roads, with a large urban population, and
surrounded by a fertile, productive terri-
tory on every side, it will continue to
grow as to commercial and industrial im-
portance.
West Texas.
Passing westward from the general re-
gion known as North Central Texas, one
enters the great developing territory of
West Texas. The eastern boundary of
West Texas is somewhat indefinitely de-
fined. The north-and-south meridian line
dividing Texas into east and west halves
runs approximately along the lilie of 99
degrees 10 minutes west longitude,
through Wilbarger, Stephens, Brown ard
intervening counties, but because of sim-
ilarity of topography and soil character-
istics of a great territory extending from
the high plains oii the-west to the region
of the west cross timbers and the Grand
Prairie, the entire region is known as
West Texas.
This territory begins on the east at an
elevation of about 700 or 800 feet and
gradually rises, reaching an altitude of
approximately 2,500 feet at the foot of
the cap rock which bounds the high
plains. Geographically West Texas ex-
tends southward to the Rio Grande but,
due primarily to the difference in topog-
raphy and industry, and to the peculiar
shape of the State, the section lying south
of the Colorado River on the Edwards
Plateau is usually referred to more spe-
cifically as Southwest Texas. Again, that
part of West Texas territory above the
cap rock in Northwest Texas is usually
referred to specifically as the Panhandle
and South Plains region.
Along the eastern edge of the great
Midwest Texas area lies the west cross
timbers, a rolling country partly covered
with post oak. Some sections, especially
in the north central part, are broken with
uplands especially adapted to the live
stock industries. The river and creek
valleys are fertile and adapted to produc-
tion of cotton, oats, corn, wheat and grain
sorghums. 'There is much sandy soil in
this territory which is especially adapted
to production of fruits and vegetables.
West of the cross timbers, as one pro-
gresses westward, are the open prairies.
From the west cross timbers to the foot
of the "cap rock" may be characterized as
the lower plains of West Texas as dis-
tinguished from the higher plains of the
northwest. The soils are usually rich
loam, with some red soils in the northern
section, several sandy sections and a
heavy clay approaching the black waxy
soils in the bottoms. The rainfall ranges
around twenty-five and thirty inches an-
nually, being -heaviest in the eastern part
of the belt.
Varied Production.
This territory -has developed rapidly
during recent years and there are great
possibilities for future development The
soils are equally adaptable to production
of cotton, oats, wheat, grain sorghums
and a variety of truck crops. This terri-
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1927 The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide, book, 1927~; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth123785/m1/56/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.