Archer City is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Archer County, Texas Archer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,560. Its county seat is Archer City. It is part of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area. History In 1858, the Texas Leg ...

, United States. The city lies at the junction of State Highway 79 and State Highway 25. It is located south of

Wichita Falls Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita Counties. According to ...

, and is part of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area. Its population was 1,601 at the 2020 census. Archer City is notable as a filming location for the motion picture ''

The Last Picture Show ''The Last Picture Show'' is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and co-written by Bogdanovich and Larry McMurtry, adapted from the 1966 semi-autobiographical novel by McMurtry. The film's ensemble cast incl ...

'' (1971) and its sequel ''

Texasville ''Texasville'' is a 1990 American drama film written and directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Based on the 1987 novel ''Texasville'' by Larry McMurtry, it is a sequel to ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971), and features Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, ...

'' (1990), both based upon novels written by Archer City native

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

. The city is named for

Branch Tanner Archer Branch Tanner Archer (December 13, 1790 – September 22, 1856) was a Texan who served as Commissioner to the United States and Speaker of the House of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives and Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas. ...

, a commissioner for the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

.Branch T. Archer (1790-1856)
- at the Lone Star Junction
- at the

Naval Historical Center The Naval History and Heritage Command, formerly the Naval Historical Center, is an Echelon II command responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage located at the historic Washington Navy Yard ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is covered by water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized as very hot, with humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Archer City has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, ''Cfa'' on climate maps.

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,601 people, 717 households, and 340 families residing in the city.

Government and infrastructure

Kelvin Green was elected mayor of Archer City in 2014 at the age of 18. He ran unopposed and was in high school. He was re-elected in 2017. Eight miles (12.8 km) west-southwest of the city lies a antenna, the

Lake Kickapoo Lake Kickapoo is a reservoir located on the North Fork Little Wichita River in the Red River Basin of Archer County, Texas. It is neighbored by Archer City, Texas (population of 1,834) and Wichita Falls, Texas (population of 104,553) which resi ...

Field Station, operated by the

20th Space Control Squadron The 20th Space Surveillance Squadron (20 SPSS) is a Space Delta 2 unit located at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida with the mission to execute multiplatform, tactical space warfighting domain characterization, recognition, and responsiveness to a ...

, and part of the

Air Force Space Surveillance System The AN/FPS-133 Air Force Space Surveillance System, colloquially known as the Space Fence, was a U.S. government multistatic radar system built to detect orbital objects passing over America. It is a component of the U.S. space surveillance ...

, used for observing objects passing over the United States. It is the primary anchor transmitter for the Space Command southern "fence" (or "Space Fence") network for monitoring the space defense system. It extends east-to-west across America at about 33°N. The antenna has no public access and restricted entry.Eyeballing the Lake Kickapoo Space Surveillance Station
- at Trust Us

Education

Archer City is served by the Archer City Independent School District, with one campus consisting of Archer City High School (grades 7–12) and Archer City Elementary School (grades K–6).

Notable people

* Maurice Benton Ball, served in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

1963–1965. *

Angela Kinsey Angela Faye Kinsey (born June 25, 1971) is an American actress. She played Angela Martin in the sitcom ''The Office'' (2005–2013) and appeared in the sitcoms '' Your Family or Mine'' (2015) and ''Haters Back Off'' (2016–2017). Since ''The O ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, in

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

, lived in Archer City as a teenager *

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

, novelist and screenwriter * Graham B. Purcell, Jr.,

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Texas's 13th congressional district Texas's 13th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Texas that includes most of the Texas Panhandle, parts of Texoma and northwestern parts of North Texas. The principal cities in the district are Amarillo, Ga ...

Gallery

Image:ArcherCity2 (1 of 1).jpg, Archer County Courthouse Image:ArcherCity6 (1 of 1).jpg, County Courthouse Jail Image:ArcherCity5 (1 of 1).jpg, Downtown Archer City Image:ArcherCity4 (1 of 1).jpg, City Hall in Archer City Image:ArcherCity1 (1 of 1).jpg, Historic buildings in Archer City

References

External links

Archer City

Archer City Independent School District Official Website
* {{authority control Cities in Archer County, Texas Cities in Texas County seats in Texas Wichita Falls metropolitan area