Donley County on the grow, Census says

Donley County bucked the trend in much of rural West Texas during the 2000 Census and saw an increase in population, reports show.

The US Census Bureau counted 3,828 people living here last year. That’s up 3.57 percent from the 3,696 counted in 1990.

The growth of the county was centered in the City of Howardwick, which more than doubled its population in the last ten years. The 1990 Census found 205 people in Howardwick. The 2000 Census counted 437, which is a 113.17 percent increase – the biggest percent increase of any city in the Texas Panhandle.

The large increase in Howardwick’s population means Donley County will have to redraw its precinct boundaries. The lakeside city lies entirely in Precinct 1, which now has 222 more citizens than the next biggest precinct.

Precinct 2 has 935 people, while Precincts 3 and 4 have 897 and 839 respectively.

Most of the county’s residents live in the county seat of Clarendon, but the city lost 3.38 percent of its population over the last ten years. The census found 1,974 people living in Clarendon, down from 2,043 in 1990. That’s the lowest census count since 1970 when the bureau also found 1,974 people living here.

The City of Hedley’s population dropped 8.67 percent to 379, a decrease of 36 people. That’s one less person than lived in that city in 1980.

Donley County’s racial composition is broken down as 3,372 whites, 243 Hispanics, 151 blacks, and 62 people of other races.

Most of the county’s black population, 140, lives in Clarendon. Seven live in Hedley, and one lives in Howardwick. 123 Hispanics live in Clarendon, 37 live in Hedley, and 21 live in Howardwick.

Of the seven counties surrounding Donley, only one posted a population increase, that being Armstrong with a growth of 6.28 percent.

Briscoe County lost 9.18 percent of its population, down to 1,790. Carson has 6,516 people, down 0.91 percent. Gray County lost 5.10 percent of its citizens for a count of 22,744, and Hall County was down 3.15 percent to 3,782. Wheeler County dropped more than 10 percent to 5,284. Collingsworth had the biggest percent decline in this corner of the Panhandle, dropping 10.27 percent for a total of 3,206 people.