Coke County, Texas
county in Texas, United States
Coke County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,285. Its county seat is Robert Lee. The county was founded in 1889 and is named for Richard Coke, the 15th governor of Texas and later a U.S. senator. Coke County was one of 46 prohibition, or entirely dry, counties in Texas, but passed a law allowing the sale of beer and wine in 2005.
History
Native Americans
From about 1700 to the 1870s, Comanche, Tonkawa, Lipan Apache, Kickapoo, and Kiowa roamed the county. These tribes settled in rock shelters in the river and creek valleys, leaving behind artifacts and caches of seeds, implements, burial sites, petroglyphs, river shells, turkey and deer bones, and flint knives, scrapers, and points.
Early years
In 1851, United States Army post Fort Chadbourne was established to protect the frontier, and the fort was manned until the Civil War. The Butterfield Overland Mail ran through the area from 1858 to 1861.
Between 1860 and the early 1880s, the only settlers in what became Coke County were ranchers attracted to open grazing land.
The public source identifies “Coke County, Texas” as county in Texas, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Coke, County and Texas.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Coke County, Texas”, the useful work is to connect “county in Texas, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q108846. VIAF identifies the subject as 145402798. The Library of Congress control number is n79064700. Authority coordinates are 31.880, -100.530. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1889, 2005 and 1700.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Coke County, Texas”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Coke County, Texas primary sources, Coke County, Texas archive and Coke research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Coke County, Texas”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Coke County, Texas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.