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ALBANY, TEXAS


Shackelford County Seat, West Texas / Panhandle

32° 43' 37" N, 99° 17' 40" W (32.726944, -99.294444)

Hwy 180
35 miles NE of Abilene
24 miles W of Breckenridge
62 miles W of Palo Pinto
122 miles W of Fort Worth
34 miles NW of Eastland on Hwy 6
ZIP code 76430
Area code 325
Population: 1,934 Est. (2019)
2,034 (2010) 1,921 (2000) 1,962 (1990)


Albany, Texas Area Hotels › Abilene Hotels | Eastland Hotels

Albany TX Shackelford County Cattle Contracting
Webb & Hill Cattle Contracting
Click on image to enlarge

Courtesy General Land Office

Albany, Texas Topics:

  • Albany History
  • Albany Landmarks / Attractions -
    Historic courthouse, jail, home... & photo gallery
  • Albany Nearby Destinations - Fort Griffin & more
  • Shackleford County Towns & Ghost Towns next page



  • Old MKT Depot - Now Albany TX Chamber of Commerce
    Old MKT Depot - Now Albany Chamber of Commerce
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009



    Historical Marker - Marker location:
    112 Main Street (Hwy 180) & Hwy 283

    City of Albany

    Chosen county seat of Shackelford in 1874, Albany had a 43-acre townsite donated by Sheriff Henry C. Jacobs. County clerk W. R. Cruger named city for his old home, Albany, Ga. A wooden picket courthouse was erected. The post office opened August 1, 1876. By late 1877 there were 16 buildings - homes, hotels, saloons, a blacksmith shop. Merchants were T. E. Jackson and firm of Woody & Hatcher. Physicians W. T. Baird and W. M. Powell and lawyer A. A. Clarke located here. D. H. Meyer and Edgar Rye began (1879) publishing "The Albany Tomahawk". Already on the western cattle trail, city expanded as a frontier shipping point when Houston & Texas Central Railroad built a terminus here in 1881. By 1882 a church building had been erected. Music lovers organized a cornet band. In 1883 an opera hall opened, and a permanent courthouse of native stone was built. Succeeding D. R. Britt as the school principal, W. S. Dalrymple founded an adult study club, "The Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle". Albany had an academy, and then a college in 1898-1915. Local activities include ranching, petroleum production, small farming, and annual staging of the historical drama, "The Fort Griffin Fandangle".
    (1975)



    Albany Landmarks / Attractions

    A Postcard of a Town
    Albany Chamber in the old railroad depot, a proper bookstore on the square, restored Aztec Theater and Art Center in the Old Jail. The 1883 Courthouse has clock and bell.

    Albany Guide published twice a year to correspond with the County's two major events: The Fort Griffin Fandandle (last two weekends of June) and hunting season.

    Photo Gallery:

    Albany TX - Giant Cow Skull
    Jimmy Dobson Photo, July 2017


    Shackelford County Courthouse, Albany, Texas
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, October 2002
    Shackelford County Courthouse


    Shackleford County Jail Museum, Albany, Texas
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, October 2002
    Shackleford County Jail
    (circa 1878)
    The restored jail now houses The Old Jail Art Center.
    One block East of Courthouse. Admission: Free


    AlbanyTx - Ledbetter Picket House
    Ledbetter Picket House
    112 Main Street

    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
    Historical Marker Text

    Ledbetter Picket House


    William Henry Ledbetter (1833-84), a native of Georgia, came to Texas in 1858, and established a salt works on Hubbard Creek (8 miles southwest) in 1862. Ledbetter withstood fierce Indians attacks before moving near Fort Griffin (15 miles north). He was elected first county judge in 1875. In the mid-1870s, Ledbetter built this picket house near the army post, using construction methods typical of this frontier region. It was moved here and restored by the city of Albany in 1953.
    Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1962


    Albany Tx Park Fountain
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009


    Albany Tx - Museum
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009


    Shackleford County Sheriffs' Office, Albany, Texas
    Shackleford County Sheriffs' Office
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, October 2002


    Trinity Episcopal Church,  Albany, Texas
    Historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Albany
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2005


    Matthew's Memorial Presbyterian Church, Albany, Texas
    Matthew's Memorial Presbyterian Church
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2005
    More Texas Churches


    Albany Texas, ice company
    (Don't put your money in the slot.)
    The preserved Albany Ice Company

    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009


    Albany TX - Albany Ice Co. Opened in 1926
    Albany Ice Co. Opened in 1926
    Jimmy Dobson Photo, July 2017


    Albany Tx Cemetery
    Albany Cemetery
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009
    More Texas Cemeteries


    Albany Tx - Closed Gas Station
    The closed Gulf Gas Station in 2009
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009


    Albany TX - Gulf Gas Station
    The Gulf Gas Station in 2017
    Jimmy Dobson Photo, July 2017
    See Adventures with my 1972 Plymouth Cuda and
    my 67 Ford Mustang Fastback

    by Jimmy Dobson


    Albany Tx - Closed Gas Station
    Even closed gas stations look neat in Albany
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009


    Albany TX - Abandoned Gas Station
    The closed gas station in 2017
    Jimmy Dobson Photo, July 2017


    Restored Sinclair filling station, Albany Texas
    The restored Sinclair gas station in May 2007
    Photo courtesy Steve Johnson


    Albany Texas - Sinclair Gas Station
    Sinclair gas station in April 2009
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson
    More Texas Gas Stations


    Albany Tx - Fort Griffin Fandangle Sign
    The Fort Griffin Fandandle (last two weekends of June)
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009


    Albany Tx Rig Display
    Rig Display
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009


    Albany Nearby Destinations

    Clear Fork Suspension Bridge NE of Albany Texas
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, December 2004
    Suspension Bridge
    Over the Clear Fork of the Brazos River


    Shackelford County Albany TX FM601 Through Truss Bridge over Hubbard Creek
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2008
    FM601 Through Truss Bridge over Hubbard Creek


    Albany Texas smokestacks
    "These smokestacks are on FM601 about eight miles southeast of Albany. May have been an old oil production facility." -
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2008



    Wind Turbines, Buffalo Gap TX, US277W
    Photo courtesy Gerald Massey, June 2010
    Shackleford County Wind Farms

    Shackleford County Wind Farms
    "As I went to the Fandangle at Albany I had to drive through a Wind Farm on the way... The Fandangle lasted until 11 PM. Driving back through this wind farm at night, the moon was out quite bright enabling me to see the wind farm bathed in bright moon light. The towers were so tall they had to have flashing red lights on them mainly for aircraft safety I would guess. The entire farm red lights all flashed on and off at exactly the same time. It was quite a sight to see... more" - Gerald Massey



    Historical Marker - Marker location:
    US 180, about 14 mi. W of Albany
    (In Chimney Creek Ranch)


    Bud Matthews Switch of the Texas Central Railway


    In 1900 the Texas Central Railway extended a line northwest from Albany across this portion of Rose Ella (Matthews) Conrad's cattle ranch. Ella and her brother John A. "Bud" Matthews, for whom this site is named, promptly constructed cattle pens and a loading chute at this location. Surrounding ranchers soon were shipping their cattle from this switch to markets in Fort Worth. As many as 105,000 head of cattle were shipped annually until the railroad ceased operations in 1967. Since that year local ranchers have continued to load cattle onto trucks from this site.
    (1992)



    Albany, Texas street scene
    Albany street scene
    Old post card circa 1930, courtesy THC


    Reynolds Presbyterian Academy in Albany
    Reynolds Presbyterian Academy in Albany
    1909 post card courtesy of THC

    Albany Chronicles
  • The Saga of Texas Iron by Clay Coppedge
    A long time ago in a land not very far away a large rock fell out of the sky and landed just a little shy of present-day Albany, Texas. The rock stayed there for untold centuries, an object of reverence for generations of Native Americans. The Comanche name for it translates into Medicine Rock. Anglos called it Texas Iron... more


    Roger Todd Moore's Texas history cartoon:

  • Albany Old Jail

  • Aug 4, 1978 - Record rain in Albany



  • Shackelford County TX centennial marker
    Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2009

    Centennial Marker:

    Shackelford County

    Formed from Bosque County; created February 1, 1858; organized September 12, 1874. Named in honor of Dr. Jack Shackelford 1790-1857; captain of the "Red Rovers," a company from Alabama which became a unit of Fannin's command - one of the few spared by the Mexicans in the Massacre at Goliad. Albany, the county seat.
    (1936)



    Take a road trip

    West Texas | Panhandle

    Albany, Texas Nearby Towns:
    Abilene | Breckenridge | Palo Pinto | Eastland

    See Shackelford County


    Book Hotel Here:
    Abilene Hotels | Eastland Hotels | More Hotels
    Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact us.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


     

     

     

     


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