WILSON, TEXAS (Lynn County). Wilson is on the Santa Fe Railroad and Farm Road 400, thirteen miles northeast of Tahoka in the northeastern quadrant of Lynn County. It was established in 1912 by William Green of Shiner. Green intended to settle Central Texas German farmers on the old Wilson County School lands located in Lynn County, hence the town's name. A small number of Germans did arrive in 1912, beginning a trickle of German immigration that continued into the early 1950s. The town grew slowly, reaching a population of 250 in 1930, 400 from 1950 to 1970, and 578 in 1980. The economy of Wilson centered around cotton production and ginning. The agricultural depression of the 1980s damaged the local economy. In 1990 the population was 568. The population dropped to 532 in 2000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Donald R. Abbe, The History of Lynn County (M.A. thesis, Texas Tech University, 1974).

Donald R. Abbe