The biggest landowners in Texas are primarily involved in cattle ranching and other agricultural pursuits. In a state where private land makes up the majority of the state, cattle ranches make up large tracts of land across the state.
The three biggest landowners in Texas are: The King Ranch heirs, The Briscoe Family, and Enos Stanley Kroenke. The King Ranch comprises 825,000 acres, the Briscoe Ranch is 640,000 acres, and the Waggoner Ranch is 535,000 acres.
Each of these ranches has a rich history and has had a lasting impact on the state of Texas. As major employers and economic players, these ranches have raised cattle, horses, and other livestock; mined oil; and raised crops. Read on to learn more about each of these ranches, its place in Texas history, and the landowners involved.
Article Contents
How Much of the Land in Texas is State Owned vs. Private?
Approximately 95% of land in Texas is privately owned. The other 5% is state-owned public land. Much of the privately owned land in Texas is devoted to cattle ranching (130 million acres). Cattle ranching is a huge part of the Texas economy, with approximately 250,000 total farms and ranches in the state.
These ranches comprise a large segment of the publicly owned land in Texas, and include a variety of industries in addition to cattle ranching, including:
Lodging
Hunting leases
Excursions
Oil fields
Farming
Saddle making
These pursuits, along with cattle, horses and other livestock make these ranches an important part of Texas’s economy, although Texas is also the largest agricultural producer in all the U.S. When it comes to cotton, hay, wheat, vegetables, and livestock like sheep and horses, Texas is the number one producer.
The southern portions of Texas largely consist of farmland devoted to raising livestock and growing crops, whereas Northern Texas is more heavily urbanized and focuses primarily on industry-based manufacturing and production.
Who Owns the Most Land in Texas?
With the prevalence of cattle ranching in Texas, the biggest landowners are individuals who own ranches. All the top 10 ranches are over 250,000 acres.
These landowners include:
- King Ranch Heirs (825,000 acres): This ranch, owned by the King Ranch heirs, raises cattle, Quarter Horses, and crops.
- Briscoe Family Ranch (560,000 acres): Owned by the Briscoe Family, this ranch is primarily focused on raising cattle.
- W.T. Waggoner Ranch (535,000 acres): Now owned by Stan Kroenke, this ranch has interests in cattle, oil, agriculture and horses.
- O’Connor Ranch Heirs (500,000 acres): This ranch was founded by Thomas O’Connor, whose heirs are among the largest landowners in the U.S.
- Hughes Ranch (390,000 acres): Hughes Ranch is owned by the Hughes family. While most of the ranch is maintained for personal use, the owners do offer hunting leases.
- Longfellow Ranch (384,000 acres): This ranch is owned by Malone Mitchell III, the founder of SandRidge Energy. This ranch’s primary purpose is hunting for deer and elk.
- Nunley Brothers (301,500 acres): Founded by Red Nunley, this cattle ranch has ties to another major Texas landower, Dolph Briscoe Senior. These two landowners partnered to breed cattle in the mid-1950s.
- Kokernot Heirs (278,000 acres): This famous Texas family has been ranching in Texas since the early mid 1800s. They now raise cattle, horses, and other livestock.
- Burnett Ranches (275,000 acres): This ranch, established in 1868 by Samuel Burnett, is now owned by his descendant Anne Marion. The ranch breeds cattle and horses.
- Jones Family Ranch (255,000 acres): This ranch was established in 1897 by W. W. Jones. It now produces oil and the main house is run as a guest house.
These ranches comprise a significant amount of land in Texas, demonstrating that ranching and agriculture is a large part of the Texas economy today. In fact, Texas has more ranches than any other state; there are nearly 250,000 farms and ranches in the state, covering approximately 127,000 million acres.
Cattle ranching makes up the majority of the agricultural industry, at over 50% of the total agricultural income in the state. Cattle ranching in the state of Texas is a more than $12 million industry and takes up a huge portion of land in the state.
The 3 Biggest Landowners in Texas
King Ranch, Briscoe Ranch, and Waggoner Ranch comprise a total of over two million acres of land in the state of Texas. These large chunks of land are primarily used for various forms of ranching that involve livestock such as sheep and horses. The three biggest landowners in Texas come from an extensive family history, where the land has been passed down for generations.
To this day, the three largest ranches in Texas are still managed and run by descendents of the previous owners. Each ranch and landowner has a long story to tell, so keep reading to find out more about what makes each of these landowners a part of Texas’s important history.
King Ranch Heirs
King Ranch, located in South Texas, about an hour away from Corpus Christi, was founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis. The ranch now covers approximately 825,000 acres and grows citrus, cotton, grain, sugar cane, and turf grass in addition to more than 1,500 seed stock cows, 20,000 commercial cows, and a 16,000 head feedyard.
Today, the ranch is divided up into four separate divisions of land:
- Santa Gertrudis
- Laureles
- Norias
- Encino
The original founders, Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis, first established the ranch on Santa Gertrudis Creek as a 15,500 acre ranch. King had a history as a riverboat captain and an entrepreneur, and had a good eye for business opportunities.
Gideon Lewis had a variety of professional experience in the theater, journalism, and as a soldier. He died at the young age of 32 after being shot and killed by the man with whom his wife was having an affair.
Before Lewis’s death, he and King acquired additional land and cattle and grew the ranch quickly through progressive management. Over the years, the ranch has also added hunting, farming, and quarter horses.
Richard and Henrietta King passed the ranch along to their children, including Alice and Robert Kleberg, who inherited approximately 800,000 acres. This parcel of land would become King Ranch. Today, the ranch is owned by approximately 60 descendants of Captain King. King Ranch is now not only the largest ranch in Texas, but also in the United States.
Briscoe Family Ranch
While the King Ranch dominates in total size, the Briscoe Family Ranch for many years was owned by the largest individual landowner in the state, Dolph Briscoe. Dolph founded the South Texas ranch in 1910, and would later pass the ranch down to his son, Dolph Brisco Jr.
When his father died, Doph Brisco Jr. grew the ranch from 190,000 acres in 1954 to over 560,000 acres. Dolph Jr is also known for serving as Texas Governor from 1973 to 1979, and chronicled his experiences in his autobiography, My Life in Texas Ranching and Politics.
Dolph Jr. was instrumental in creating legislation that reformed state government, commerce, and the lives of farmers and ranchers across the state of Texas. Dolph Jr. passed the ranch along to his children, Dolph (Chip) Briscoe III, Janey B. Marmion, and Cele B. Carpenter.
Here are some key facts about the Briscoe Family Ranch:
- Size: 560,000 acres
- Current Owner: Dolph III “Chip” Briscoe, his two sisters, Janey Marmion and Cele Carpenter, and their families
- Primary Function: Cattle ranch
Today the Briscoe Ranch raises cattle, and has a reputation for philanthropic efforts in the areas of education, art, and history. In 2013, the Brisco family founded the Briscoe Western Art Museum in San Antonio, and has donated several million dollars to the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.
W.T. Waggoner Ranch
In 1849, Dan Waggoner founded W.T. Waggoner Ranch, Inc. located near Vernon, Texas. Dan began purchasing land in Wise county in 1870 to expand the ranch. At this time, the ranch’s operations included 230 head of longhorn cattle and a few horses.
Dan Waggoner and his son, Tom Waggoner, earned a significant amount of income selling cattle in Kansas and used the money to buy up grasslands in six counties. They cleared the land and continued to operate and expand the ranch.
When Dan passed away in 1903, W. T. (Tom) Waggoner took over and further grew the business, acquiring additional land across several counties. Tom began raising Quarter Horses on the ranch and also began the ranch’s oil drilling operation around this time. Later on, Tom made some important decisions regarding how the land was laid out and managed:
In 1909, Tom divided up the ranch into several sections: Zacaweista, Four Corners, and Santa Ros, and gave one to each of his children
He would later reverse this decision, and in 1923, set up a trust for his children and asked the children to help him elect a board of trustees
When Tom died, his three children, Guy Waggoner, Paul Waggoner, and Electra Waggoner took over the ranch and continued to actively participate in operations
Upon Guy Waggoner’s death in 1950, his sons sold their shares to Albert Buckman Wharton, Jr., Electra Waggoner’s son, and Electra Waggoner Biggs, E. Paul Waggoner’s daughter.
In 1991, Electra Waggoner Biggs and Albert Buckman Wharton III engaged in a legal battle regarding selling the ranch. Ultimately, after the death of Electra Waggoner Biggs, her daughter Helen Biggs and her daughter’s husband, Gene Willingham, inherited the ranch.
The ranch was sold for approximately $725 million in 2014 to businessman Stan Kroenke. Kroenke is the husband of Wal-Mart heiress Ann Walton and the owner of Kroene Sports and Entertainment. As part of this franchise, he owns the LA Rams, the Denver Nuggets, and the Colorado Avalanche, among other sports teams.
Conclusion
Of the top 10 landowners in the United States, two are ranch owners in Texas. The state’s agricultural and cattle industries create an environment in which landowners can develop large ranches and farms.
Since Texas is the top agricultural producer, much of the land is also dedicated towards crop production. Most of this agricultural land is privately owned by families and individuals. However, the largest sections of privately owned land belong to the biggest ranches currently in the state. The largest acreages of land are privately owned ranches, with the top 10 largest ranches taking up over 4 million acres.
