Kent County
Jayton, Kent County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Formed from Young and Bexar territories. Created August 21, 1876. Organized November 8, 1892. Named in honor of Andrew Kent who fell at the Alamo. Clairmont, the county seat, 1892. Jayton, since 1952. (1936)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Kent County was carved from older Texas territories in 1876 and formally organized in 1892, taking its name from Andrew Kent, one of the defenders who fell at the Alamo. Its county seat first sat at Clairmont before moving to Jayton in 1952. The State of Texas erected this marker during the 1936 centennial of independence.
Why it matters
The county's creation and its Alamo namesake tie the organization of West Texas directly to the founding sacrifice of the Texas Republic.
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Related people
- · Andrew Kent
Related events
- · Creation of Kent County
- · Battle of the Alamo
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Putoff Canyon
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Old Kent County Jail
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Raised in 1894 from red sandstone quarried nearby, this jail served the raw frontier of Kent County, where its most frequent guests were horse and cattle thieves, murderers, and moonshiners. Reputed to be one of the hardest lockups in West Texas to break out of, it never saw a successful escape. The stout little building is a relic of an era when law had to be built as solidly as the crimes it aimed to hold.
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