Editing Upton County, Texas (section)

===Establishment of the county===

Upton was formed in 1887 from [[Tom Green County, Texas]]. The county was named after John C. Upton and his brother William F. Upton. of [[Tennessee]].<ref>{{cite web|title=John C. Upton and His Brother, W. F. Upton - Rankin, Upton County, Texas|work=Texas Historical Markers|url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5461002771|publisher=William Nienke, Sam Morrow|access-date=December 15, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301062030/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5461002771|archive-date=March 1, 2012}}</ref> Cattleman George Elliott became the first to establish a homestead in Upton County in 1880.<ref>{{cite web|title=Elliott Ranch - Rankin, Upton County, Texas|work=Texas Historical Markers|url=http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5461001460|publisher=William Nienke, Sam Morrow|access-date=December 15, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301062040/http://www.9key.com/markers/marker_detail.asp?atlas_number=5461001460|archive-date=March 1, 2012}}</ref> Beginning as open range, the land was shared with sheepmen by the 1890s. The United States Census counted 52 people living in the county in 1890, and only 48 in 1900; most of these were either members of three families, or were in their employ. The agricultural sector of the county has been outpaced by cattle and sheep ranching. In 1982, about 92% of the land in Upton County was in farms and ranches, but less than 1% of the county was considered prime farmland, and only 2% of the county was cultivated.<ref name="Upton County, Texas"/> In the fall of 1911, the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway reached the townsite of Rankin, and by January 1912, most of the people living in Upland had moved to Rankin.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rankin, Texas|url=http://www.texasescapes.com/WestTexasTowns/Rankin-Texas.htm|work=Texas Escapes|publisher=Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC|access-date=December 15, 2010}}</ref>