ABILENE                 (9,204)   (LOCKHART)              (2,945)

 ALBANY                    (999)    MARLIN                 (3,878)

 AMARILLO                (9,957)    MARSHALL              (11,452)

(BALLINGER)              (3,536)    MCALLEN                  (150)

 BEAUMT (Beaumont)      (20,640)    MCKINNEY               (4,714)

 BELTON                  (4,164)   (MINEOLA)               (1,706)

 BOERNE                    (886)   (NEW BOSTON)              (762)

 BRADY                   (2,669)    N-BRFLS (New Braunfels)(3,165)

 BRENHAM                 (4,718)    NEW ULM                  (444)

                                    OVALO                    (500)

 B-VILLE (Brownsville)  (10,517)   (PANHANDLE)               (521)

 BULLARD                   (212)    PLAIN V-W (Plainview)  (2,829)

 CISCO                   (2,410)    RISING STAR              (640)

 CLARKS-V (Clarksville)  (2,065)    ROSCOE                   (941)

 CLEB (Cleburne)        (10,364)    R-R-TEX (Round Rock)   (1,138)

 C-C-TEX (Corpus Christi)(8,222)    S-ANGELO (San Angelo) (10,321)

 CORPUS CHRISTI             "       SAN ANTONIO           (96,614)

 CORSI. (Corsincana)     (9,749)    SAN A   (San Angelo or    "

 DEL RIO                 (1,980)    S-A-TEX  San Antonio)     "

 DUBLIN                  (2,551)    SAN MARCOS             (4,071)

 EAGLE LAKE              (1,717)    SAN-M (San Marcos)        "

 FT.WORTH               (73,312)

 F-BURG (Fredericksburg) (1,632)    SEGUIN                 (3,116)

 G-VILLE (Gainesville or (7,624)    SEYMOUR                (2,029)

          Greenville)    (8,850)    TEMPLE                (10,993)

(GEORGETOWN)             (3,096)    TEXAS (Texas City)       (236)

 GRANGER                 (1,708)    TROY                     (219)

 GRESHAM                    (20)    VERNON                 (3,195)

 H-VILLE/LAVACA          (1,379)    WACO                  (26,425)

(Halletsville)              "       W-SPRINGS (Walnut Spr.)(1,340)

 HEWITT                     (79)    WELLINGTON               (576)

 HUTTO                     (563)   (WEST)                  (1,645)

 JUNCTION                  (536)    WHITEWRIGHT            (1,563)

 LAGRANGE                (1,850)    W-FALLS (Wichita Falls)(8,200)

COUNTY NAMES  (19 different verified)

 BELL       (49,186)                LAVACA        (26,418)

 BLANCO      (4,311)                LEE           (13,132)

 COLLIN     (49,021)                NAVARRO       (47,070)

 ELLIS      (53,629)

 FAYETTE    (29,796)                SMITH CO.     (41,746)

 GRAYSON    (65,996)                THROCKMORTON   (4,563)

 HAYS       (15,518)                TRAVIS        (55,620)

 HILL CO.   (46,760)                WILLIAMSON    (42,228)

 HUNT       (48,116)                WOOD          (23,417)

 KENDALL     (4,517)               (YOAKUM)          (602)

 LAMAR      (46,544)

EITHER CITY OR COUNTY   * = city located in county of same name

                       (19 different verified)

              (City)  (County)                  (City) (County)

 AUSTIN     (29,860)  (17,699)      HANSFORD*     (41)    (935)

 CALDWELL    (1,476)  (24,237)      HASKELL*   (2,436) (16,249)

 COLEMAN*    (3,046)  (22,618)      HOUSTON   (78,800) (29,564)

(COMANCHE*)  (2,756)  (27,186)      LAMPASAS*  (2,119)  (9,532)

 DALLAS*    (92,104) (135,748)      LLANO*     (1,687)  (6,520)

 EL PASO*   (39,279)  (52,599)      SHERMAN   (12,412)  (1,376)

 GALV.*     (36,981)  (44,479)      TERRELL    (7,050)  (1,430)

(Galveston)     "         "         TYLER     (10,400) (10,250)

 GOLIAD*     (1,261)   (9,909)      V-TORIA*   (3,673) (14,990)

 GONZALES*   (3,139)  (28,055)     (Victoria)     "        "

 HAMILTON*   (1,548)  (15,315)      WHEELER       (29)  (5,258)

OTHER

 CADILLAC (Automobile make)

It is not certain exactly how many counties Texas had when registration began in 1907.  Texas had 245 counties in 1910, and Brooks, Culberson, Jim Wells and Willacy were added by 1915.  Some counties were formed after 1917 and never registered motor vehicles during the pre-state era.  The 1917/18 state registration totals presented below include 250 counties.  The remaining four, listed here, were added as follows:

      Cochran  Formed 1876, but not formally organized until 1924

      Crane    Formed 1887, but not formally organized until 1927

      Hockley  Formed 1876, but not formally organized until 1921

      Kenedy   Formed 1921

So far, no 1907-17 county ledger books have been found which would help determine how high numbers reached in each county, or in which years numbers were assigned.  However, some limited information has been found in various period newspaper articles and reports, some of which has resulted in fairly complete ranges, which are presented alphabetically here:

Bell County had issued 5 registrations as of August 4, 1907.

Bexar County (San Antonio) issued #1 on July 12, 1907, the first effective date of the law, and reached #145 by the end of 1907.  While Bexar County's 1908 numbers are unknown, they reached #597 at the end of 1909 and were at #676 as of February 28, 1910.  A San Antonio Light news article on December 31, 1911, mentions that 692 numbers, ranging from #1256 to #1947, had been issued in Bexar County during 1911.  Bexar County issued #9968 on July 29, 1916, so 5-digit numbers were certainly reached soon after.  A plate #10484 is known with the name "SAN ANTONIO".

Bosque County issued #408 on April 17, 1914.

Brazos County issued #84 on September 6, 1912, and #119 on May 9, 1913.  Numbers in 1916 included #288 on June 23, 1916, and #438 on December 7, 1916.  132 registrations were issued in 1916.  #496 was issued on March 6, 1917, while #540 was assigned on April 12, 1917.

In Caldwell County, 139 registrations were issued during 1915.

In Collin County, #1527 was issued on June 19, 1916.

Comanche County issued #188 on July 2, 1915, and #245 on November 19, 1915.  1917 numbers included #633 assigned on February 9, 1917, and #833 issued on June 30, 1917.

Dallas County:  From various Sunday editions of the Dallas Morning News, we have the numbers issued by the Dallas County Clerk during each previous week, as follows:

July 23, 1911       2210 - 2226    December 17, 1911  2594 - 2612

September 24, 1911  2350 - 2363    December 24, 1911  2613 - 2617

October 15, 1911    2412 - 2452    April 27, 1913     4592 - 4661

October 22, 1911    2453 - 2495    May 25, 1913       4847 - 4915

November 12, 1911   2536 - 2551    July 6, 1913       5183 - 5217

December 10, 1911   2582 - 2591    January 10, 1915   8510 - 8530

The Dallas Morning News reported on June 15, 1915, that "Automobile license numbers 9999 and 10000 were sold early yesterday morning.  Dallas has long led the cities of the State in the number of automobiles in use and she is the first to reach the number 10000 on the license plates."  The highest plate number known from any county is a Dallas plate #13838.  Only five counties reached five digits by mid-1917.

In Ellis County, numbers assigned in January and February of 1911 included #225 to 247.  March 1911 numbers ranged from #248 to 270.  As of June 2, 1911, numbers had reached #309.  Numbers issued from February 1, 1912, to March 18, 1912, included #422 to 459, and #468 was reached as of April 2, 1912.  #544 was issued by June 12, 1912.   Ellis County issued #751 on February 13, 1913, and reached #994 by June 21, 1913.

El Paso County:

      1907 (7/26)     1 -  103              1913         1279 -  1929 (12/31)

      1908          104 -  190 (12/30)      1914 (1/3)   1933 -  3007

      1909 (1/15)   200 -  394              1915         3008 -  5089 (12/30)

      1910          395 -  582 (12/29)      1916 (1/4)   5111 -  8150 (12/30)(3,049 issued)

      1911 (1/20)   594 -  729 (10/17)      1917 (1/4)   8190 - 10392 (Final 6/30)

      1912 (1/31)   824 - 1278                                 (10000 issued 5/9/1917)

Fannin County assigned #493 on June 26, 1913, and #545 on August 21, 1913.

Galveston County issued #32 on September 13, 1907.  Number 103 was issued April 25, 1909, while the next number was assigned on May 22, 1909.  On September 6, 1910, Galveston issued #218, and by November 28, 1910, was up to #240.  91 registrations were issued during 1910.  1911 numbers ranged from #243, issued on January 13, 1911, to #478, issued on December 20, 1911.  1912 reported #489 assigned on January 2, 1912, and #583, issued on April 24, 1912.  Records pick up again on August 21, 1914, when #1723 was issued, and numbers reached #1866 by December 22, 1914.  On March 15, 1917, numbers were up to about #3200.

Harris County (Houston) issued 851 registrations in 1911.  Other numbers:

      1908                                  1913 (1/4)     3119 -  4371

      1909 (5/21)   378 -                   1914           4372 -  5748 (12/12)

      1910 (7/25)  1000 -                   1915           5811 -  8548

      1911 (6/29)  1741 - 2137 (12/27)      1916           8549 - 12074 (10000 issued 6/2)

      1912 (1/7)   2147 - 3109 (12/29)      1917 (1/20)   12224 - 14161 (Final 6/30)

Harrison County:

      1907 (7/15)   1 -  13             1913 (1/23)   169 - 246 (12/16)

      1908         14 -  19             1914 (1/13)   248 - 295 (7/21)

      1909         20 -  41             1915 (3/16)   326 - 407 (8/28)

      1910         42 -  66             1916 (9/7)    652 - 731 (11/7)

      1911         67 -  80 (3/22)

      1912 (3/9)  115 - 167 (12/3)

Johnson County issued 17 registrations in March 1909, and 25 in April 1909.

Lamar County issued #1389 on September 1, 1916, and #1508 on November 9, 1916.

Llano County was up to #378 as of March 1, 1917.

McLennan County (Waco) issued #1 on July 12, 1907, the first day.  #914 was assigned on October 23, 1911.  On July 22, 1912, #1214 was issued, the 250th since January 1, 1912.  Other numbers issued were #1237 on August 15, 1912, #1696 on May 18, 1913, and #2083, reached as of December 30, 1913.  1915 numbers included #2610 issued on January 10, 1915, and #3230, assigned on December 18, 1915.  1916 numbers included #3283, issued by January 22, 1916, and #4250, assigned on October 1, 1916.  In 1917, McLennan was up to #5465 on April 2, 1917, and had reached above #5900 by the end on June 30, 1917.

Medina County's 1911 numbers ranged from #37 to 65.  Numbers reached #95 by July 20, 1912, #142 on February 15, 1913, and #146 on February 22, 1913.

Navarro County issued #1219 on September 2, 1915, and #1344 on December 28, 1915.  1916 numbers included #1345 on January 3, 1916, and #2274 on December 29, 1916.  1917 began with #2275, issued on January 1, 1917.

Tarrant County (Fort Worth):  A news article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on April 13, 1917, states that "Automobile license numbers reached and passed the 11,000 mark Friday.  It took residents of Tarrant County just three months and eighteen days to purchase the last 1,000 motor vehicles."  That would put the 10,000 mark at about December 26, 1916 in Tarrant County.

Tom Green County issued #1250 on April 7, 1916, and #1275 on April 23, 1916.

Travis County (Austin) began registration on July 12, 1907, the first effective date, issuing 14 that day and 12 the next day.  License #66 was assigned on October 15, 1907.  Number ranges assigned for the remaining years are as follows:

      1908 (1/3)     69 - 105 (12/24)      1913    985 - 1507

      1909 (1/30)   108 - 233              1914   1508 - 1976

      1910          234 - 431              1915   1977 - 2638

      1911          432 - 647              1916   2639 - 3643

      1912          648 - 984              1917   3644 - 4300 (Final 6/30)

Victoria County issued #258 by March 30, 1914, and #314 on December 1, 1914.  1915 numbers included #344 issued on May 14, 1915, and #405, assigned on November 20, 1915.  Victoria issued #434 on February 10, 1916, and #447 on March 6, 1916.

Wichita County (Wichita Falls):

      1909       -  53      1913          354 -  522 (6/29)

      1910    54 - 105      1914 (3/20)   702 - 1024 (10/18)

      1911   106 - 195      1915 (1/8)   1080 - 1629 (12/18)

      1912   196 - 353

Williamson County issued #2000 on March 16, 1916.  1917 numbers ranged from #2838 issued on January 5, 1917, to #3310, assigned on April 27, 1917.

Wise County assigned numbers 149 to 156 from July 26, 1913, to August 8, 1913.

From the Texas Almanac, we know the number of motor vehicles registered as of August 1, 1910.  180 counties reported a total of 14,276 registrations.  The 22 highest-registration counties, comprising 8,656 of the registrations, are listed as follows (along with the main city of each for reference):

Dallas     (Dallas)      1,390      Hale      (Plainview)   200

Harris     (Houston)     1,031      Tom Green (San Angelo)  190

Bexar      (San Antonio) 1,024      Taylor    (Abilene)     176

Tarrant    (Fort Worth)    852      Hunt      (Greenville)  172

McLennan   (Waco)          546      Bell      (Belton)      171

El Paso    (El Paso)       506      Navarro   (Corsicana)   146

Jefferson  (Beaumont)      413      Collin    (McKinney)    133

Travis     (Austin)        375      Runnels   (Ballinger)   127

Potter     (Amarillo)      350      Cooke     (Gainesville) 125

Williamson (Georgetown)    275      Lubbock   (Lubbock)     125

Galveston  (Galveston)     219      Johnson   (Cleburne)    110

The remaining 158 counties, totaling 5,620 registrations, each reported less than 100 registered.  About 65 counties are not represented in the report.

We have not attempted to record the license numbers found on known plates, due to the easy interchangeability of numbers on these assembled kit plates.  However, we have included a separate table of registration figures by county for FY 1917-18 so collectors can ascertain the relative quantity variances between different counties.  Based on the above evidence we have for Bexar, Dallas, Llano and Tarrant counties, it is believed that, in general, county numbers assigned in 1907-17 probably did not extend higher than these 1917-18 figures despite the ten-year span of assignment.

(Photo of 1910 plate and receipt in DEC-93 TEXAS back page)

In 1915, a bill was submitted to the Texas legislature proposing that the panhandle area of the state be formed into a new, separate state of Jefferson.  The bill was defeated, but to this day, Texas' constitution allows the state to divide itself.  We wonder if, had that bill passed, Jefferson would have continued the county pre-state system or elect to issue a new state plate to announce their new status?

A pair of state laws passed in 1917 ended local registration by both cities and counties, and provided for the first state-issued license plates in Texas.  Although the state was comparatively very late in enacting a universal motor vehicle law, officials with the newly-created State Highway Department had the benefit of years of other states' experience with similar highway programs and laws, resulting in a very comprehensive first set of laws.

1917 Chapter 190, passed April 4, 1917, and Chapter 207, passed April 9, 1917, both took effect on July 1, 1917.  Owners of motor vehicles were required to pay an annual registration fee of $7.50 or higher, depending on horsepower, to the Secretary of the State Highway Department, and display a pair of permanent undated state-issued plates and a single annual dated validation seal to be mounted on the front of the vehicle, most commonly on the radiator.  The registration year was to be January 1 to December 31, except that half rates were allowed for 1917 and for the second half of each year thereafter.  As mentioned previously, local ordinances for registration by cities were killed off by these two laws.

Motorcycles paid a fee of $3 and were issued a single plate and a seal.  Chapter 190 didn't specify the location of display for the plate but mentioned that the seal was to go on the front.  Chapter 207 very clearly modified the location to the rear for both plate and seal.  Dealers paid a fee of $15, plus $5 for each additional plate up to five, and received D-prefixed plates.  Non-residents were allowed 30 days in the state before being required to purchase a Visitor V-prefix plate for a $1 fee.  If the non-resident remained in the state for 90 days or more, he was required to take out a regular state registration.  Therefore, Visitor plates should have been valid for only up to 60 days (days 31-90).  Perhaps this limited application resulted in so few "V" plates being issued.  Visitor plates are smaller than regular plates but larger than motorcycle tags.

In the State Highway Commission's First Biennial Report, covering the period July 1, 1917, to December 1, 1918, it is stated that the Department ordered 275,000 pairs of passenger plates, then later secured another 125,000 pairs at a lower unit price.  The following table lists the quantity of plate pairs ordered during this period;  the motorcycle price was quoted as also being for pairs but it is believed that singles were in fact produced.  (In addition, 160,000 seals were ordered in 1917.)  Subsequent orders were placed for passenger plates in 1919-22 and dealer plates in 1919, but apparently not for motorcycle and visitor tags.

LICENSE PLATES            PASSENGER   MOTORCYCLE   DEALER   VISITOR

1917-18 Quantity ordered   400,000      10,000      6,000    10,000

1917    Registrations      194,720       3,570      3,094        44

1918    Registrations      250,201       3,250      3,996       118

1917-22 Highest known      #790983       #6941     #D6679    #V7913

Several changes occurred during the first-issue era of 1917-22.  Originally, all plates and seals were issued by mail from the State Highway Department in Austin.  Despite this central point of issue, the initial assignment of plates was carefully allocated alphabetically by county, and then by city or town within each county, starting with Brushy Creek in Anderson county.  As the year progressed, and many motorists attempted to comply with the new law, there were numerous delays in receiving the new plates.  It soon became obvious that to keep up with the demand for new plates and the workload they entailed, a better system of distribution had to be devised.  The legislature passed a new law delegating the responsibility of license plate issuance to the County Tax Collectors of the state (which continues to this day), a system not unlike the 1907-17 county clerk era.  County assignments began effective June 27, 1918, starting with plate #270001.  Only 218 counties were assigned at first.

In 1919, serial numbers were stamped on the seals, and in 1920, the round seals gave way to miniature rectangular plates.  The permanent 1917 Dealer plates were replaced by full-size dated annual Dealer plates in 1920.  The permanent 1917 motorcycle plates continued to be used in 1920-22 along with separately marked and differently-colored validation seals.  It is not known when Visitor tags were discontinued, but the low registration figures could indicate that large quantities were left over.  At the end of 1918, only 162 out of 10,000 had been issued.