On March 20, 1848, the Texas Legislature passed a bill creating Cooke County, which was named for William G. Cooke, a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mr. Cooke fought for Texas Independence, and had been appointed Adjutant General when the State government was organized in 1846. The county is approximately 874 square miles.

Cooke County is approximately sixty (60) miles north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area, with the Red River being the north boundary.

The present site of Gainesville was chosen as the county seat. Gainesville is named after General Edmund Gaines who had been sympathetic with the Texas Revolution as Commander of the Southwest Division of the U.S. Army at New Orleans.

Demographically there has been slow growth in Cooke County over the past 20 years. In 1990 the population was 30,777 and in 2000, 36,363. This comes to a 18.1% population change in the last 10 years.

TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION MISSION AND SCOPE

Texas Cooperative Extension educates Texans in the areas of agriculture, environment stewardship, youth and adult life skills, human capital and leadership, and community economic development. Extension values and promotes citizen and community involvement, scientifically-based education, lifelong learning and volunteerism. It provides access to citizens in all 254 Texas counties and works cooperatively with other TAMUS parts and external agencies and organizations to achieve its goals.

COOKE COUNTY PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Major educational activities conducted to meet the needs of Cooke County families include agriculture marketing, stocker cattle seminars, Master Gardeners, Junior Master Gardeners, result demonstrations, Texans Building Character, Better Living for Texans Family Nutrition Program, and Positive Parenting.