Wheeler County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 5,410. Its county seat is Wheeler. Officially formed in 1876, the county is named for Royal Tyler Wheeler, a chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Wheeler County is one of 30 prohibition or entirely dry counties in the state of Texas. The Pioneer West Museum, the Wheeler County historical museum, is located in Shamrock off U.S. Highway 83. In 1876, the Texas State Legislature established Wheeler County. In 1879, Mobeetie was named the county seat. Mobeetie was then known as "Sweetwater," but this name should not be confused with the Sweetwater, which is the seat of Nolan County west of Abilene. A stone courthouse was erected from locally quarried materials in 1880 but was replaced by a wooden structure in 1888. The town of Wheeler was designated as the county seat in 1908. The wooden courthouse was moved to the current site but was replaced by the existing structure as a result of a 1925 bond election. The previous building was sold to a sheriff, Riley Price, who dismantled it and used it to build barns on his nearby ranch. The structure was designed by E.H. Eads of Shamrock and built by local contractors Hughes and Campbell. It features Palladian windows and Corinthian columns, characteristic of the Greek revival style of architecture.
Wheeler County is on the eastern edge of the Panhandle of Texas, along the Oklahoma border. The center of the county is at 35°25' north latitude and 100°15' west longitude. Wheeler, the county seat, is three miles northwest of the center of the county and 100 miles east of Amarillo. The area was named for Royal T. Wheeler, the second chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Wheeler County occupies 914 square miles of rolling prairies and rough river breaks in the area east of the High Plains; elevations range from 2,000 to 2,800 feet above sea level. The red sandy loam and black clay soils produce abundant native grasses as well as wheat, sorghums, cotton, and alfalfa. Cottonwood, black walnut, chinaberry, willow, hackberry, mesquiteqv, and shin oak trees are found along river and creek bottoms and in other watered areas in the county. The North Fork of the Red River and Sweetwater Creek are the two major streams in the county. Numerous lesser streams drain into them, contributing to the rough nature of the terrain. The average annual rainfall is 23.7 inches. Temperatures range from an average minimum of 26° F in January to an average maximum of 97° F in July. The average growing season lasts 208 days. Mineral resources include caliche, gypsum, petroleum, and natural gas.
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I found my first cache in Wheeler county on 09-06-2009.
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