Nolan County was created in 1876
(Organized in 1881) and formed from Bexar and Young Territories. Nolan County was named for Philip Nolan, a mustanger who was killed by Spanish troops in 1801 while on a mission into Texas for uncertain reasons. The County Seat is Sweetwater. The Official County website is located at http://www.co.nolan.tx.us/. See also Extended History for more historical details.
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
Nolan County Clerk has Court Records from 1881 , Land Records from 1881, Probate Records from 1881, Marriage Records from 1881 and Birth/Death Records from 1903 is located at 100 East third, Suite 108, Sweetwater, Texas 79556; Phone: 325-235-2462, Fax: 325-236-9416. The County Clerk's Office is the record keeper of the county. The county records include birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses, brand registrations, DD214s (military discharges), land / real estate / property records, probate and civil filings.
Below is a list of online resources for Nolan County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Nolan County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Texas Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Texas Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Vital Records,1100 West 49th Street,
Austin, TX 78756, Please allow up to approximately 6-8 weeks for processing of all type of certificates when ordered through the mail. They have the following records:
Birth Certificates: Birth records maintained by Bureau of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health since 1903 through the present. For births that occurred within the past 75 years, copies can be requested only by the immediate family of the person whose name is on the birth certificate.
Cost: The cost of a birth record is $22.00. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $22.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Death Certificates: Death records maintained by Bureau of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health since 1903 through the present.
For deaths that occurred in the past 25 years, copies can be requested only by immediate family members of the deceased.
Cost: The cost of a certified death certificate is $20.00 for the first copy and $3.00 for each additional copy issued at the same time for the same certificate. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $20.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Marriage & Divorce Certificates: Marriage Verifications from Jan 1966 and Divorce Verifications from Jan 1968. Certified copies of marriage licenses or divorce decrees are only available from the county clerk (marriage) or district clerk (divorce) in the county or district in which the event occurred. Marriage verification or divorce verification letters can now be ordered ELECTRONICALLY
Cost: $20 - Fee is for verification only.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
Order In Person: The certificates may be ordered by coming into this office. If you want the copy the same day, our hours for same day service are 8:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday. The Texas Vital Statistics Office in Austin is located at 1100 W. 49th Street,
Austin, TX 78756.
Order By Mail: Mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to the "Texas Vital Records " along with the necessary information to the following address: Texas Vital Records, Department of State Health Services, PO Box 12040,
Austin TX 78711-2040. Please include return address on envelope and application form.
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Texas newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29 - Browse by county, then year, then surname, beginning with the first letters of the last name of the person you seek. If you're unsure of the year or location, use the search box under the browse menu. These records can be searched by father's first and last names, mother's first and maiden names, year, county, and city. The certificates include the child and parents' full names, residence, occupations, age, time and date of the birth, and the name of the physician attending the birth.
Texas Death Certificates, 1890-1976 - These records are searchable by first and last name of the deceased, year, county, and city. A certificate may include the decedent's date, place, and cause of death; age; date of birth; last residence; and marital status. If known, it will also include occupation, birth place, parents' names, and place of burial. Browse by county, then year, then surname, beginning with the first letters of the last name of the person you seek. If unsure of the year or location, use the search box under the browse menu.
Click Here to Search Texas Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Nolan County, Texas are 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. The Texas State Library holds microfilm editions for all of Texas' federal censuses. Although the 1850, 1860, and part of the 1870 mortality schedules have been published, all the original mortality schedules are at the Texas State Library and on microfilm The 1830 territorial census of Miller County, Arkansas, enumerates an area that is in today's Texas boundaries. The remaining 1890 population schedules which exist for Texas include: Ellis County (Justice Precinct 6, Mountain Peak, and Ovilla Precinct); Hood County (Precinct 5); Rusk County (No. 6 and Justice Precinct No. 7); Trinity County (town of Trinity and Justice Precinct 2); and Kaufman County (Kaufman). Although Greer County in present-day Oklahoma functioned as part of Texas between 1886 and 1896, the 1890 census for this county was enumerated under Oklahoma Territory.
Below is a list of online resources for Nolan County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Nolan County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Arkansas and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Texas showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Texas showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps.
Below is a list of online resources for Nolan County Maps. Email us with websites containing Nolan County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Texas Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Nolan County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Nolan County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Texas (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Texas tax records constitute one of the most complete sets of available records generated at the county level (by the Commissioners Court) because these documents are maintained by the state. These lists may only include approximately sixty percent of eligible males over the age of twenty-one. Persons exempted from taxes included native Americans, "idiots," "incompetents," and those exempted because of age. This final category of exemptions varied over time. Years without an older age exemption were 1840 and 1862-70. Between 1841-44 exemptions began at forty-five years; in 1845 and from 1850-61 the upward age was set at fifty years. In 1837, 1848, and 1849 the limit was established as fifty-five, and in 1846-7, and 1871 the upward limit was set at sixty years.
Texas Ad Valorem (poll, personal, and real property) tax records for 1836 through 1976 are available in microfilm at the Texas State Library from the date of respective county organization; these are arranged by county and date and are somewhat alphabetized within each division. Microfilm copies are housed in the Genealogy Section. Tax lists for the various counties from creation to 1901 may be borrowed through interlibrary loan. Tax records through 1901-1947 are readily accessible, but not on interlibrary loan. Those for 1948 through 1976 can be obtained upon request.
Below is a list of online resources for Nolan County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Nolan County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Nolan County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Nolan County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Texas State Library and Archives Commission, P.O. Box 12927, Austin, TX 78711-2927 Holdings under the auspices of the Texas State Library are divided. Most important for genealogical research are the Texas State Archives with its Local Records Department, the Records Management Division, and the Information Services Division, which includes a Genealogy Section and a Reference Department.
The Genealogy Section maintains vertical ties that contain notes, clippings, pamphlets, and correspondence on Texas families. These files may be accessed in person, by phone (512-463-5463, forty-five minute limit), or through correspondence.
Texas Historical Commision The Texas Historical Commission (THC) is the state agency for historic preservation. THC staff consults with citizens and organizations to preserve Texas' architectural, archeological and cultural landmarks. The agency is recognized nationally for its preservation programs.
Texas Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Texas Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
During Texas's colonization period Roman Catholics were the most numerous, but early citizens included those representing other religious faiths such as Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Christian or Disciples of Christ.
Many cemetery records have been collected and transcribed, including the largest of which is multi-volumes compilation by the DAR and two volumes for Peters Colonists and descendants. The DAR collection, also microfilmed, is available at the Texas State Library and through the FHL.
Some Texas county historical and genealogical societies have published local cemetery and/funeral home records. These are normally available for purchase through the respective society. Two references can help determine which cemeteries have been recorded: Kim Parsons', A Reference to Texas Cemetery Records (Humble, Tex.: by author, 1988), arranged by county; and Sharry Crofford-Gould's, Texas Cemetery Inscriptions: A Source Index (San Antonio, Tex.: Limited Editions, 1977).
Below is a list of online resources for Nolan County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Nolan County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Texas obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Texas newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Texas.
Click Here to Search Texas Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Nolan County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Nolan County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Texas Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
The area of Nolan County had no Anglo settlers until after the Civil War, when buffalo hunters came to the plains. The county was carved from the Young-Bexar territory by the Texas legislature in 1876 and attached to Shackelford County for administrative purposes. Knight's store on Sweetwater Creek was started in a dugout in 1877 to serve buffalo hunters operating in the area. The county's first post office was opened in 1879 in the village of Sweet Water, which was two words until the spelling was officially changed in 1918. The original name of the post office was Blue Goose, derived from a story that the first postmaster ate a blue crane that cowboys told him was a blue goose. By 1880 there were fifty-two ranches in the area, and the economy was dominated by the cattle industry. The agricultural census that year reported 24,515 cattle, 1,300 sheep, and only sixty-four acres devoted to growing corn, the county's most important crop at that time. The 1880 census reported 640 people living in the county. 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 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. Ranching still dominated the local economy at that time, though sheep had come to outnumber cattle in the area, 38,000 to 13,000. Meanwhile, 563 acres were planted in corn, 900 acres in oats, and 490 acres in wheat. Hundreds of new settlers moved into the area during the 1890s and early 1900s, establishing towns as they arrived. Roscoe, which grew on the site of a proposed Texas and Pacific station called Vista, was incorporated in 1890, and the town's first newspaper, the Enterprise, was published in 1893. Blackwell, originally named Jamestown, was built around a station on the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway about 1906, and Maryneal was established about the same time. Further settlement was encouraged in 1908, when the Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Shortline Railway was built to run fifty miles from Roscoe to Fluvanna. Between 1897 and 1908 fifteen post offices were established in Nolan County. Reflecting these trends, the population of the county rose to 2,611 by 1900 and to 11,999 by 1910.
During this period crop cultivation became central to the economy of the area. The number of farms increased to 293 by 1900 and to 1,160 by 1910. By 1910 over two-thirds of the land was being used for agriculture and 24.2 percent was in improved farm acreage. While about 16,000 cattle and 7,454 sheep were reported in 1910, 33,000 acres were planted in cotton that year, and 21,000 acres were devoted to sorghum. Cotton was by far the most important crop, accounting for almost 72 percent of the county's income derived from cultivation. Many of the new farmers were tenants: sharecropping increased from 20.5 percent of the county's farms in 1900 to 54.7 percent in 1910. Except for a brief recession after World War I, these trends continued between 1910 and 1930, as cotton cultivation continued to expand in the area, particularly during the 1920s. Though cattle and sheep ranching continued to be important to the local economy, the relative significance of ranching in the area continued to decline. By 1930, 80,000 acres in the county were planted in cotton. The number of farms rose from 1,015 in 1920 to 1,351 by 1925 and to 1,514 by 1930; meanwhile, the population increased from 10,868 in 1920 to 19,323 by 1930. The area's cotton economy was severely shaken during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The number of acres devoted to cotton plunged to 58,000 by 1934 and to 39,000 by 1939. Almost a third of the farmers left their land during the 1930s, and by 1940 only 948 farms remained in Nolan County. Tenant farmers fared the worst, particularly after 1935; the number of tenants in the area dropped from 665 in 1930 to 628 by 1935 and to 440 by 1940. The population dropped to 17,309 by 1940.
While World War II helped to revive the local agricultural economy during the 1940s, by the 1950s farm consolidations, the decline of farm tenancy, and an extended drought caused a drop in population from 19,323 in 1950 to 18,808 in 1960 and 16,220 by 1970. Though cotton production remained strong and expanded substantially during the 1970s, by 1978 the number of farms in the area had declined to 472. The population rose slightly during the 1970s to reach 17,359 by 1980 but began to decline again during the 1980s; in 1990 it stood at 16,594. Much of the economic progress in the county since the 1950s has been due to the oil and gas industry. Petroleum was discovered in 1939, but production was minimal at first: in 1948 only 3,353 barrels of crude oil were produced in the county. However, production of crude oil reached 8,315,000 barrels in 1956, 5,331,000 barrels in 1960, 4,900,000 barrels in 1974, 2,400,000 barrels in 1978, and 2,873,000 barrels in 1982. The value of petroleum produced in Nolan County increased between 1966 and 1984 from $5,243,000 to $92,415,782 and remained important in the 1990s, though both prices and production had declined since the mid-1980s. In 1990, 1,965,000 barrels of oil were produced, and by January 1, 1991, 172,176,000 barrels of crude had been taken from county lands since discovery in 1939.
Nolan County's citizens strongly supported Democratic tickets in national elections until the early 1950s, when Democratic strength in the county began to decline. The Democratic party carried 86 percent of the votes in the 1948 presidential election, but only 55 percent in 1956. Lyndon B. Johnson carried the county with 69 percent of the vote in 1964, but in 1968 the Democrats won only 47 percent of the vote. The Democratic vote faded to 27 percent in 1972, when the county supported Republican Richard Nixon, but rose to 62 percent in 1976, when they supported Jimmy Carter. Ronald Reagan carried the county in 1980 and 1984, but in 1988 voters supported Democrat Michael Dukakis. In 1992 a plurality supported Democrat Bill Clinton over Republican George Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot.
In 1982, 94 percent of the county was in farms and ranches; about 18 percent of the farmland was cultivated, and 4 percent was irrigated. Cattle, sheep, Angora goats, and hogs were the most important livestock for the economy. Cotton, sorghum, wheat, and hay were the most important crops grown, though local farmers also grew peaches, pecans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and watermelons. One of the major industries in Nolan County is United States Gypsum, which began operating near Sweetwater in 1924. About 23 percent of those employed in the county in the early 1980s worked in construction, 26 percent were in trade, 10 percent were in service jobs, and 19 percent were employed in state and local government. The Missouri Pacific and the Santa Fe railroads have lines in Nolan County. The Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway, which once ran from Roscoe to Fluvanna, now runs only from Roscoe to Snyder, serving as a connecting line between the Katy and Santa Fe tracks. The county has an airport, Avenger Field, located in Sweetwater. The Sweetwater Reporter has been in continuous publication since 1909, and Roscoe's first newspaper, the Enterprise, has been in continuous publication since March 10, 1906. The Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater is a vocational training facility that began operation in 1970. Communities in the county include Sweetwater (1990 population, 11,967), the county seat; Roscoe (1,446); and Blackwell (332 in Nolan County, partly in Coke County). Visitors and residents find recreation at Lake Sweetwater and at Oak Creek Lake. The largest tourist attraction in Nolan County is the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round-Up, held each March.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29