The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad ( CO&G ), known informally as the "Choctaw Route," was an American railroad in the states of Arkansas and Oklahoma .
27-405: Carson County may refer to: Carson County, Texas Carson County, Utah Territory , now Carson City, Nevada [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
54-623: A 38.5 mile line between Guthrie, Oklahoma and Chandler, Oklahoma in the 1902-1903 timeframe. It changed its name to the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Western Railroad on May 5, 1902. (This line was abandoned June 1, 1924.) The CO&G came under the control of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (the "Rock Island") in 1902, and was formally merged into the Rock Island on January 1, 1948. The Memphis-Amarillo route remained an important main line for
81-610: A household in the county was $ 40,285, and for a family was $ 47,147. Males had a median income of $ 34,271 versus $ 23,325 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 19,368. About 5.40% of families and 7.30% of the population were below the poverty line , including 8.90% of those under age 18 and 9.40% of those age 65 or over. School districts: All of the county is in the service area of Amarillo College . 35°25′N 101°21′W / 35.41°N 101.35°W / 35.41; -101.35 Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad The company, originally known as
108-626: A nuclear weapons assembly plant. In 1960, Pantex began high-explosives development in support of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Pantex has a long-term mission to safely and securely maintain the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile and dismantle weapons retired by the military. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 924 square miles (2,390 km ), of which 3.9 square miles (10 km ) (0.4%) are covered by water. As of
135-541: The Chicago, Rock Island and Gulf bought the line. In 1908, the Southern Kansas of Texas extended its line from Panhandle City to Amarillo, thus making the Kansas-Texas-New Mexico line a major transcontinental route. The Choctaw, Oklahoma and Texas Railroad built across the southern edge of the county. Pumping underground water with windmills resolved the issue of bringing water from Roberts County via
162-737: The Francklyn Land and Cattle Company . The lands were later sold to the White Deer Lands Trust of British bondholders in 1886 and 1887. Railroads began to reach the county by 1886 when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway subsidiary Southern Kansas Railway extended the line into Texas, making Panhandle City a railhead in 1888. In 1889, the Fort Worth and Denver Railway linked Panhandle City with Washburn in Armstrong County . In 1904,
189-630: The Plains Apache . Modern Apache tribes followed them and were displaced by Comanches . The Comanches were defeated by the United States Army in the Red River War of 1874. Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explored the Llano Estacado in 1541. Carson County was established in 1876 from Bexar County . The county was organized in 1888. Panhandle, the only town at
216-532: The U.S. state of Texas . As of the 2020 census , its population was 5,807. The county seat is Panhandle . The county was founded in 1876 and later organized in 1888. It is named for Samuel Price Carson , the first secretary of state of the Republic of Texas . Carson County is included in the Amarillo , TX metropolitan statistical area . Prehistoric hunter-gatherers were the first inhabitants, followed by
243-433: The census of 2000, 6,516 people, 2,470 households, and 1,884 families were residing in the county. The population density was 7 people/sq mi (2.7 people/km ). The 2,815 housing units had an average density of 3 per square mile (1.2/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 93.82% White, 0.58% African American, 1.00% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 3.06% from other races, and 1.41% from two or more races. About 7.03% of
270-711: The Batesville and Brinkley Railroad, had a line between the towns of Brinkley and Jacksonport , as well as a branch line between Wiville and Gregory , entirely within the State of Arkansas and about 62 miles in total length. On July 1, 1900, the CO&;G took up operation of the W&;BRV under an 80-year lease. The Western Oklahoma Railroad (“WORR”) was incorporated in what was then the Territory of Oklahoma on December 11, 1900. This railway
297-416: The CO&G added 20.2 miles to the line, extending it from Tecumseh to Asher , which was a cotton producing area that also experienced a short-lived oil boom starting in the late 1920s. This route, served by faithful vintage locomotive Old Beck , was among the CO&G assets later acquired by the Rock Island; but, the whole line was abandoned February 10, 1942. The Watonga and Northwestern Railroad
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#1733104468716324-599: The CO&G on May 3, 1902. An entity called the Choctaw and Memphis Railroad (C&MR), a publicly traded company, on October 25, 1898 purchased at foreclosure the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad . That was a line running 133 miles from Hopefield, Arkansas , which was a ferry crossing point to Memphis, Tennessee across the Mississippi River , and ending in Huntersville, now known as North Little Rock, Arkansas . As
351-529: The Choctaw Coal and Railway Company, completed its main line between West Memphis, Arkansas and western Oklahoma by 1900. In 1901 the CO&G chartered a subsidiary company, the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Texas Railroad, to continue construction west into the Texas panhandle, and by 1902 the railroad had extended as far west as Amarillo . Following the CO&G's construction from McAlester to Oklahoma City through
378-487: The Rock Island Memphis-Tucumcari line, through Tishomingo to Ardmore, Oklahoma . The CO&G purchased the lines on May 1, 1902, and operated the tracks from the first day. Originally incorporated as the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Company under the laws of Oklahoma Territory on January 23, 1902 (and not to be confused with the main CO&G corporate entity), this CO&G subsidiary built
405-681: The Rock Island, hosting local and transcontinental freight traffic as well as passenger trains such as the Choctaw Rocket from 1940-1964. Ownership of the Choctaw Route's railway components were split into numerous pieces as a result of the dissolution of the Rock Island Railroad in 1980. Some segments of the former CO&G were abandoned; others remain in use by the Union Pacific Railroad and various short lines . As of 2014,
432-601: The end of 2000, more than 178,398,900 barrels (28,363,160 m ) of petroleum had been produced from county lands. In September 1942, the Pantex Ordnance Plant was built on 16,076 acres (65.06 km ) of southwestern Carson County land, to pack and load shells and bombs in support of the World War II effort. Operations ceased August 1945, and in 1949, the site was sold to Texas Tech University at Amarillo for agricultural experimentation. Pantex reopened in 1951 as
459-412: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carson_County&oldid=1048606673 " Category : United States county name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Carson County, Texas Carson County is a county located in
486-578: The intersection of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad and the Missouri Pacific Railway since at least 1891. This gave it a mainline of about 121 miles. It also built a branch from its line at Ingersoll—a town created by the railroad—west to the Woods County seat of Alva, Oklahoma , about 16 miles. This gave the railway a total trackage of about 137–138 miles. This railroad was conveyed to
513-845: The new owner, the C&;MR then began building west, including a bridge over the Arkansas River to Little Rock . That bridge later became known as the Rock Island Bridge, and is today the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. The C&MR was sold to the CO&G in 1900. The CO&G extended its Oklahoma tracks to meet the Little Rock line. The White and Black River Valley Railway (W&BRV), previously called
540-507: The population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. In ancestry, 25.0% were of German , 14.2% were of Irish , 8.1% were of English , 4.7% were of American , 3.2% were of Scottish , and 3.1% were Polish . Of the 2,470 households, 35.8% had children under living with them, 65.3% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.7% were not families. About 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who
567-525: The railroad. White Deer in 1909 became home to Polish Catholic immigrants, who had first settled Panna Maria in Karnes County before migrating to Carson County. Experimental drilling by Gulf Oil Corporation led to the county's, and the Panhandle's, first oil and gas production in late 1921. Borger field was discovered in 1925, sparking much oil exploration and production of the Panhandle area. By
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#1733104468716594-483: The time, became the county seat. Ranching began to be established in the county in the 1880s. The JA Ranch encompassed over a million acres (4,000 km ) within six adjoining counties. Richard E. McNalty established the Turkey Track Ranch in 1878. One of the early failed attempts came in 1882 when Charles G. Francklyn purchased 637,440 acres (2,579.6 km ) of railroad lands in adjoining counties to form
621-522: The town of Shawnee in 1895, the Tecumseh Railway was incorporated under the laws of Oklahoma Territory on August 20, 1896. That same year, the Tecumseh built 5.2 miles of rail from a junction near Shawnee to Tecumseh, Oklahoma , which at that time was acting as the county seat. The Tecumseh Railway never had any other trackage, and on December 12, 1900, it was purchased by the CO&G. In 1902
648-662: The way such as Greenfield , Watonga and Homestead in Blaine County ; Cleo Springs , originally Cleo, in Major County ; and, in Alfalfa County , the towns of Aline , Augusta, Lambert , Ingersoll , Driftwood , and Amorita . At the border, it continued about 16 miles north through Waldron, Kansas —where it crossed the line of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railroad —to end at Anthony, Kansas , which had existed at
675-406: Was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.60, and the average family size was 3.04. In the county, the age distribution was 27.9% under 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 23.9% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.20 males. The median income for
702-508: Was a CO&G creation from the beginning: the CO&G arranged financing, and agreed to purchase WORR’s trackage once finished. Construction started in March, 1901 and was completed by May 1, 1902 on two different lines. One was a 40.1 mile line from Elk City to the Texas state line near Texola, Oklahoma . The other was a 117.5 mile line from a Branch Junction near Haileyville, Oklahoma off of
729-596: Was incorporated in Oklahoma Territory on May 19, 1900. Its name changed to the Choctaw Northern Railroad on March 22, 1901. Though not originally controlled by the CO&G, this railway did in the 1901-1902 timeframe build its main line from a connection with the CO&G at Geary, Oklahoma north toward the Oklahoma-Kansas border, about 106 miles distant. It passed through or created towns along
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