The Creation of Capitol Lands
By the 1870’s, Texas was in need of a new Capitol. Being cash-poor and land rich, the Sixteenth Legislature set aside 3,000,000 acres of the public domain in 1882 to pay for the Capitol building and appointed a Capitol Board composed of the governor, comptroller, treasurer, attorney general, and land commissioner. These 3 million acres, now known as Capitol Land, are located in the Texas Panhandle counties of Bailey, Castro, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Hartley, Hockley, Lamb, Oldham, and Parmer.