Retiring Guy's Digest: Population loss in Texas: Shackelford County/Albany

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Population loss in Texas: Shackelford County/Albany

It all started here.

Population loss as in major -- 50% or more.

Source: Wikipedia (Shackelford County, Albany)

Albany is the county seat of Shackelford County.

Population loss by degrees: 80-90%, 70-79%, 60-69%, 50-59%.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts

Percentage of population 25 and older with a bachelor's degree:

27.4% - Shackelford County
28.7% - Texas
30.9% - U.S.

Percentage of population 65 and older:

20.4% - Shackelford County
12.8% - Texas
15.6% - U.S.

% of population living in poverty:

14.2% - Shackelford County
14.7% - Texas
12.3% - U.S.

The last time Shackelford County voted for a Democratic candidate for president was 1976. Trump received 91.6% of the vote in 2016, the highest for any GOP presidential candidate.

Shackelford County Library, Albany

Related reading:

The Cowboy, Man and Myth Alike, Is Alive and Well in Northern Texas. (The New York Times, 4/1/1987)

The relatively few spreads large enough to hire hands are mostly in North Texas and the Panhandle, where the cowboy tradition survives on ranches like the Nail, Lambshead, 6666, Waggoner and Pitchfork. It takes only five men, for example, to run the Nail Ranch near here, whose 100 square miles, or 10 sections, cover a tenth of Shackelford County. The foreman, George Peacock, a 52-year-old third-generation cowboy, is the one who ''haars'' members of this crew, who ride herd on 1,200 to 1,500 head of cattle.