Nolan County Texas

The county was organized after an election held on January 20, 1881, and in April the Nolan County Court declared that Sweetwater was to be the new permanent county seat.  The county is named for Phillip Nolan, one of the first American traders to visit Texas.

The townsite was on the Texas and Pacific Railway, which had built into the area that March. The first newspaper in Nolan County, the Sweetwater Advocate, was published in 1881. Though a blizzard in February 1885 destroyed much of the livestock in the area, settlers continued to move into Nolan County. By 1890 there were 144 ranches and farms, and the population had increased to 1,573.

Rev. Hampton McKinney was already living at the site and later constructed the McKinney Inn at the location. On February 25, 1848, Thomas Smith donated 100 acres of land at the McKinney site, and C. C. Taylor was employed to construct a town plot. Jose Antonio Navarro chose the name Corsicana in honor of the Isle of Corsica, his father's birthplace.  [Source: Gerald McDaniel, "NOLAN COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online; Published by the Texas State Historical Association.] 

CITIES, TOWNS,  AND POPULATED PLACES

*  Blackwell  * Champion * Decker * Highland  *

*  Hylton * Maryneal * Nolan * Roscoe * Sweetwater (county seat)  * Wastella  *