BRIAR, TEXAS. Briar is on Farm Road 730 twenty-two miles northwest of Weatherford in the northeast corner of Parker County, the southwest corner of Wise County, and the northwest tip of Tarrant County. The community's development began in the late 1870s and early 1880s. A local post office operated from 1884 until 1904. By the late 1890s the community had thirty residents and two businesses. For much of its history Briar has served area farmers as a school and church community. Until the late 1960s its population remained well under fifty. In the early 1970s, however, the community began to grow rapidly as a result of the growth of nearby Fort Worth. In 1980 the population was estimated at 1,810: 349 in Parker County, 642 in Wise County, and 819 in Tarrant County. In 1990 the population was 3,899, and in 2000 it was 5,350.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: John Clements, Flying the Colors: Texas, a Comprehensive Look at Texas Today, County by County (Dallas: Clements Research, 1984).

David Minor