Stephenville, Texas

History

Stephenville is founded by and named after John M. Stephen, who settled there in 1854, and donated the land for the townsite laid out by George B. Erath when the county was organized in 1856. In the first two years of its settlement, the population increased to 776. The population then declined until 1871, because the townsite was in Comanche territory and raids were common, and because the hardships of the American Civil War led citizens to leave. The population grew after Stephenville became an agriculture and livestock center. Coal mining also became important to the area in 1886, and was a major segment of the economy for the 30 years.

Stephenville was incorporated in 1889, with the arrival of the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway. In the 1890s, many of the buildings around the town square were built, Tarleton State University opened, and the community's two newspapers merged to become the Empire-Tribune, which is still in operation. In February 1907, the Stephenville North and South Texas Railway was chartered by Stephenville and Hamilton business interests, which sold the line in 1910 to the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas system. In the 20th century, industry became an important part of Stephenville, and the population has steadily increased since the 1920s.

Stephenville lights

In January 2008, dozens of people in Stephenville reported seeing patterns of lights in the night sky, which were eventually discovered to have been caused by a military training maneuver. Some described it as a single large unidentified flying object. The Air Force Reserve issued a statement from the NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base that jets from the 457th Fighter Squadron were in military airspace designated for training during the time people reported seeing the lights. The F-16s had been engaged in training maneuvers and dropping counter-measure flares used to confuse heat-seeking missiles. Following news reports of the UFO sighting, "media calls came from all over the world", and local police Constable Lee Roy Gaitan gave more than 100 interviews. The town reacted in a "UFO frenzy"; T-shirts proclaiming the town "Alien Capital of the World" and "Erath County — the New Roswell", were rushed into production, and the local high school suddenly received $7,000 for college scholarships.

Rise of 764

in 2021, a group by the name of 764, a group based on Stephenville's Zip Code was founded by Bradley Chance Cadenhead. At the age of 15, school dropout Cadenhead (alias: "Felix") learned techniques of exploiting minors and sextortion on a Discord server named CVLT and subsequently founded 764. In the online game Minecraft, Cadenhead met an unknown person who assisted him in establishing 764. The 764 network is primarily active on Discord and Telegram, and to some extent on the gaming platforms Roblox and Minecraft. It is also publicly active on online forums. Its members are involved in systematic sexual, physical, and psychological abuse of minors through sextortion and other practices and in distributing child pornography and depictions of violence. Victims are selected from the 9- to 17-year-old age group, with a preference for children from marginalized backgrounds or with mental health issues.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 11.89 sqmi, of which 11.89 sqmi are land and 0.04 sqmi is covered by water.

Stephenville is served by three major US highways – US Highway 377, US Highway 281, and US Highway 67 (the last of which joins US Hwy 377).

Climate

Stephenville's climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Stephenville has a humid subtropical climate, with the abbreviation Cfa.

| Jan record high F = 87 | Feb record high F = 96 | Mar record high F = 95 | Apr record high F = 103 | May record high F = 103 | Jun record high F = 109 | Jul record high F = 111 | Aug record high F = 110 | Sep record high F = 110 | Oct record high F = 103 | Nov record high F = 92 | Dec record high F = 89 | year record high F =

|Jan avg record high F = 78.2 |Feb avg record high F = 82.3 |Mar avg record high F = 86.3 |Apr avg record high F = 90.8 |May avg record high F = 94.3 |Jun avg record high F = 97.9 |Jul avg record high F = 101.5 |Aug avg record high F = 101.8 |Sep avg record high F = 97.8 |Oct avg record high F = 92.2 |Nov avg record high F = 83.3 |Dec avg record high F = 78.7 |year avg record high F = 103.5

|Jan avg record low F = 19.0 |Feb avg record low F = 21.4 |Mar avg record low F = 25.8 |Apr avg record low F = 35.3 |May avg record low F = 45.4 |Jun avg record low F = 59.0 |Jul avg record low F = 65.3 |Aug avg record low F = 63.4 |Sep avg record low F = 50.1 |Oct avg record low F = 36.1 |Nov avg record low F = 25.9 |Dec avg record low F = 20.0 |year avg record low F = 15.0

| Jan record low F = -2 | Feb record low F = 0 | Mar record low F = 9 | Apr record low F = 25 | May record low F = 36 | Jun record low F = 51 | Jul record low F = 50 | Aug record low F = 50 | Sep record low F = 33 | Oct record low F = 21 | Nov record low F = 11 | Dec record low F = -8 | year record low F = |access-date = November 11, 2023}}{{cite web |access-date = November 11, 2023}}

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, the town had a population of 20.9k people with a median age of 25.7 and a median household income of $48,602. 95.5% of residents are U.S. citizens. Over one year, it's median household income grew from $47,161 to $48,602, a 3.06% increase. Ethnic groups in Stephenville include White (Non-Hispanic) (75.6%), White (Hispanic) (12.7%), Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (3.29%), Other (Hispanic) (2.68%), and Two+ (Non-Hispanic) (2.11%). No households reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider potential multi-lingual situations, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household. Universities include Tarleton State University (3,536 degrees awarded in 2021). In 2020, the median property value was $153,400, and the homeownership rate was 45.9%. The average reported commute time was 16.1 minutes, and average car ownership was 2 cars per household.

Education

Stephenville is served by the Stephenville Independent School District and two colleges: Tarleton State University and Ranger College.

Notable people

• Jessie G. Beach (1887–1954), paleontologist and museum aid, born in Stephenville
• Art Briles, former football coach at Baylor University
• Milton Brown, recording artist, cofounder of Western Swing born in Stephenville
• Bradley Cadenhead, founder of the sextortion network 764, the name of which refers to Stephenville's ZIP codes
• Giovannie and the Hired Guns, American country rock band
• Leon Hale, newspaper writer, born in Stephenville
• Dustin Hodge, television producer and writer
• Brock Holt, professional baseball player, graduated from Stephenville High School
• Jewel, singer-songwriter, lived on a Stephenville ranch
• Kevin Kolb, NFL quarterback
• Jess Lockwood, world champion bull rider
• J.B. Mauney, world champion bull rider
• Ty Murray, world champion rodeo cowboy
• Jim Sharp, world champion bull rider
• Jarrett Stidham, NFL quarterback with the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos
• Carey Wentworth Styles, newspaperman, founder of The Atlanta Constitution
• Hugh Wolfe, professional football player
• Hudson Westbrook, country music singer and songwriter

Notes

References

References

1. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
2. "U.S. Census website". [[United States Census Bureau]].
3. {{GNIS. 2411977
4. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
5. (September 2020). "Stephenville – The Cowboy Capital of the World". Stephenville Tourism & Visitors Bureau.
6. "Stephenville, TX". Texas State Historical Association.
7. [https://www.npr.org/2008/01/16/18146244/dozens-claim-they-spotted-ufo-in-texas Dozens Claim They Spotted UFO in Texas] National Public Radio, "All Things Considered" – January 16, 2008.
8. [https://archive.today/20230807213348/https://www.npr.org/2008/01/16/18146244/dozens-claim-they-spotted-ufo-in-texas NPR archive link, archived August 7, 2023.] Archival of "Dozens Claim They Spotted UFO in Texas] National Public Radio, "All Things Considered" – January 16, 2008."
9. "UFOs? Nope. They were fighter jets, Air Force says". [[CNN]].
10. (March 2015). "Alien Lights? At Phoenix, Stephenville, and Elsewhere: A Postmortem". [[Skeptical Inquirer]] From: Volume 39, No. March 2 / April 2015.
11. (June 14, 2008). "How UFOs took over a town". [[Los Angeles Times]].
12. (2025-09-03). "Helena Police investigate threat made to child by group FBI dubs a ‘violent online network’". CBS 42.
13. (2025-09-04). "Helena Police say ‘terrorist, extreme group’ targeting kids online".
14. "On popular online platforms, predatory groups coerce children into self-harm". Washington Post.
15. [http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=12557&cityname=Stephenville%2C+Texas%2C+United+States+of+America&units= Climate Summary for Stephenville, Texas]
16. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov.
17. "Explore Census Data".
18. https://www.census.gov/ {{nonspecific. (August 2022)
19. "About the Hispanic Population and its Origin".
20. "Stephenville, TX". [[Data USA]].
21. (September 2, 2021). "Spotlight on Jessie G. Beach, Smithsonian Department of Paleobiology Staff Member". Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.
22. "Houston's Briles set to interview at Baylor". Houston Chronicle.
23. Wilson, Mark. "Storyteller: Erath native exploring 'expanse of possibilities' in film world".
24. Wilson, Mark. "Holt honored with retirement of SHS baseball jersey No. 1".
25. (January 20, 2013). "Ty Murray's Saddle House". Texas Monthly.
26. "Jess Lockwood wins second Professional Bull Riders title in 3 years at World Finals". Star-Telegram.
27. "Professional Bull Riders – PBR Officers".
28. Nixon, Raymond B.. (June 17, 1945). "Constitution's Founder Fought for Georgia with Pen and Sword". The Atlanta Constitution.
29. (April 12, 2025). "Hudson Westbrook Trivia, Family, Bio". WikiBiography.