Parker County Texas map
32.78° N · 97.81° W · County seat: Weatherford · 910 sq mi
Parker County is the western step of the Fort Worth commuter ring, where the Cross Timbers give way to open hill and pasture. Weatherford sits at the middle of it on Interstate 20, and the county's peach orchards are enough of an industry that the July festival on the courthouse square draws crowds from across North Texas.
Centered on Weatherford. I-20 runs left to right across the south of the county; the Brazos River clips the southwest corner.
Where Parker County is
Tarrant County is directly east, which is what makes this county what it is: Fort Worth is about 28 miles east of the county's centre and Fort Worth's own city limits now spill across the line. Wise County is north, Jack County northwest, Palo Pinto County west, Hood County south and Johnson County southeast.
Arlington is roughly 41 miles east and Denton 49 miles northeast. The county was created by the legislature in 1855 out of territory then assigned to Bosque and Navarro counties, and organized the following year. It is named for Isaac Parker, the legislator who introduced the bill and an uncle of Cynthia Ann Parker.
Growth has been steep and it is concentrated on the eastern side. The 2020 census counted 148,222 people; the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate is close to 180,000. Aledo, Willow Park, Hudson Oaks and Annetta — all within a few minutes of the Tarrant County line — account for much of that.
Cities and towns
| Place | Type | 2020 population in county |
|---|---|---|
| Weatherford (county seat) | City | 30,902 |
| Willow Park | City | 4,944 |
| Aledo | City | 4,857 |
| Springtown (part) | City | 3,064 |
| Annetta | Town | 3,044 |
| Reno (part) | City | 2,854 |
| Azle (part) | City | 2,503 |
| Hudson Oaks | City | 2,183 |
| Fort Worth (part) | City | 1,249 |
| Dennis | Town | 745 |
| Annetta South | Town | 618 |
| Peaster | Town | 558 |
| Annetta North | Town | 549 |
| Cresson (part) | City | 510 |
Azle, Reno, Springtown, Cresson and Fort Worth all cross county lines; the figures count only the Parker County share.
Roads
- I-20 – enters from Fort Worth past Aledo and Willow Park, runs along the south side of Weatherford and leaves west toward Mineral Wells' turnoff and Ranger.
- US-180 – the older east–west road through the middle, from Fort Worth's west side through Weatherford and on to Mineral Wells.
- US-377 – cuts diagonally across the southeast through Cresson, linking Fort Worth to Granbury.
- SH-199 – the Jacksboro Highway, northwest from Fort Worth through Azle and Springtown.
- SH-171 – north from Weatherford to Springtown and Boyd.
- SH-51 – south from Weatherford toward Granbury, north toward Springtown and Decatur.
Peaches and the courthouse square
Parker County peaches are the county's best-known product, grown on sandy Cross Timbers soil at roadside orchards clustered along US-180 and the farm roads north and east of Weatherford. The Parker County Peach Festival takes over the streets around the courthouse in July, at the height of the picking season. The courthouse itself, a limestone building with a clock tower, stands in the middle of a full square of two- and three-storey brick storefronts — one of the better-preserved county squares in North Texas, and the reason downtown Weatherford still functions as a retail centre rather than a bypassed strip. Weatherford College sits a few blocks away.
Water: Lake Weatherford and the Brazos
For a county of 910 square miles there is remarkably little standing water — about 6 square miles, well under one percent. Lake Weatherford, a small city reservoir on the Clear Fork of the Trinity River northeast of town off SH-51, is the largest piece of it and supplies Weatherford. Lake Mineral Wells State Park & Trailway lies in the northwest of the county, east of Mineral Wells on US-180, and its rail-trail runs 20 miles from the lake toward Weatherford. The Brazos River clips the southwest corner of the county below Dennis, and the Clear Fork and its tributaries drain the rest of it east into Tarrant County.