Windthorst, Texas
Windthorst is a small farming community in Archer County, set amid the rolling grassland and cropland of North Texas about 81 miles northwest of Denton. It was settled by German Catholics and remains centered on St. Mary's Catholic Church, whose steeple rises above the surrounding fields. Farming, dairying, and oil have long anchored the local economy, and the town is known in the region for its German Catholic heritage and its Knights of Columbus sausage festivals.
Place essentials
Official Census snapshot- Census place type
- Town
- July 2025 population
- 354
- Change from 2020 base
- +2.6%
- Land area
- 2.5 sq. mi.
- County footprint
- Archer County and Clay County
Place type, county footprint, and land area use the Census Bureau's January 1, 2025 geography. Population uses Vintage 2025 estimates through July 1, 2025; change compares that estimate with the April 1, 2020 estimates base. Geography file | Population file
Windthorst crosses county lines, so the appraisal district and tax office depend on the parcel address. School, city-limit, MUD, PID, and other special-district lines can be different too. Start with the full county list below instead of treating one county as the answer.
Official routes
Use the office for the parcel address; a mailing city is not always the governing city.
County context
What to know around Windthorst
County lines carry much of the property, land, water, and outdoors context around Windthorst.
History / Literature
Archer City is the hometown of novelist Larry McMurtry
Larry McMurtry grew up in Archer City. He based much of his early fiction on the town, and the 1971 film of The Last Picture Show was shot there.
Property tax
How to lower your Archer County property tax bill with a homestead exemption
If you live in your Archer County home, you may qualify for a homestead exemption that lowers your property tax bill.
History / Settlement
Clay County was named for Henry Clay and abandoned during the Civil War
Clay County was split from Cooke County in 1857, named for Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, and had fewer than 110 residents by 1860 before settlers abandoned it during the Civil War.
Nearby
Places near Windthorst
Nearby counties
Local notes for nearby counties
Next steps for Windthorst
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