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Winkler County was created in 1887 but not organized until 1910. It's named for Clinton McKamy Winkler, a colonel in the Confederate Army. The population of the county remained under 100 until 1926, when oil was discovered on the Hendrick Ranch. In 1930, there were 6784 persons included in federal census figures. The population climbed to more than 10,000 in the fifties and sixties, then fell again and was less than 7800 for the census in 2020. Today, most of the folks live in either Kermit or Wink. Monahans, the seat of Ward County, is partially in Winkler County.

Southeast Winkler County is home to part of the amazing Sand Hills of Texas, which are active, migrating dunes. See Monahans Sandhills State Park.

Resources

On-Site

Cemeteries Census Records History Lookups Newspaper Articles Obituaries Surrounding Counties

Off-Site

Winkler Archives Other TXGenWeb Counties Portal to Texas History Query Board

Communities

(g) means ghost town
Cheyenne (g)
Cowden Place
Hay Flat (g)
Kermit
Magwalt (g)
Monahans
Tulsa (g)
Vesrue (g)
Wink

Newspapers, Past & Present

Odessa American
The Kermit Daily Sun, 1963-1966
The Kermit Sun, 1937-19??, 1966-1967
The Kermit Tribune, 1929-19??
Wink Bulletin, 1935-current
The Winkler County News, 1936-current
The Winkler Sun, 1937-1937

This award was probably won by Charlene Beauchamp and Kay Woods