Community Profile of Wellington, Texas and Collingsworth County

Wellington, Texas is the county seat of Collingsworth County. The county is located in the southeast corner of the Texas Panhandle. The historical Ozark Trail crossed through this land. In 2026 the county will celebrate its 150th birthday after being established in 1876. The county occupies 894 square miles of rolling prairie. The shallow Salt Fork of the Red River crosses the central portion of the county. About 55 percent of the county is rangeland and 40 percent is cropland. Crops are predominantly cotton, grains such as wheat and sorghum and peanuts.

Wellington is located on U.S. 83 on which people travel from the southern end of Texas all the way up to the Canadian border. The county population was 2,652 in the 2020 census and the median household income is $60,165.

Wellington is known for its excellent school system. Niche rated the Wellington Independent School District with an overall grade of “A” based on rigorous analysis of data and reviews. The 2023-2024 school year had 164 students enrolled with a four-year graduation rate of 100%. Average ACT score was 19.7. On average teachers had 16.9 years of experience. Students have many extracurricular activities that they can participate in. Many of our sports teams win honors yearly and many individual students compete at state level in multiple UIL categories. School student demographics are 3.7% African American, 48.8% Hispanic and 45.7% White. (data from schools.texastribune.org).

Medical needs are met at Collingsworth General Hospital and the Family Medical Clinic. The hospital was designated as one of the top 20 critical access hospitals in the U.S. for patient satisfaction. Connected to the hospital is a newly opened state of the art Physical Therapy department, Collingsworth Pharmacy and Parkview Manor (which is an assisted living facility). Bluebonnet is a home health and hospice care provider. Wellington Care Center provides short term and long term care for the Medicare and Medicaid population.

There are multiple churches in town and they work together to provide for the needs of the residents in multiple ways. As joint members of the Ministerial Alliance they provide food boxes and case by case financial support. There are community wide church services at Easter and Christmas and during the summer county fair. Several churches take turns monthly hosting the community youth during the school year. Mid week youth services take place at several churches.

Panfork Baptist Encampment is located in Collingsworth County. It has 200 dorm and private style rooms, dining services and recreational areas. It offers a variety of camps, retreats and programs.

Wellington has multiple recreational areas. The Wellington Activity Center (WAC) has an indoor walking track, weight room, basketball/volleyball/tennis courts, climbing walls, bowling alley and more. The Wellington Aquatics Complex (WAC) has an olympic size pool and fun pool play areas. There are outdoor and indoor areas for horse riding at the rodeo grounds. There is a lighted baseball field. Powell Park has a lighted walking path. Ellison Park has tennis courts. Ritz Theatre shows current movies and hosts live entertainment. Pioneer Park located 6 miles north of Wellington along the banks of the Salt Fork River has tent camping, RV hook-ups, fire pits and tables as well as two covered pavilions and many large shade trees to relax under. The newly opened shooting range teaches gun safety and provides for shooting sports. Collingsworth County has abundant dove, turkey, deer and wild hogs for those who enjoy hunting.

Most of the businesses here support the needs of a rural farming community. There are hardware and farm supply stores and cotton and peanut gins. Greenbelt Electric Cooperative, Inc. serves all and parts of 9 counties in the Texas panhandle. The largest employers in the county are the school system, hospital complex, Greenbelt Electric, Texas Department of Transportation and the gins (Helena, Farmer’s Co-op Gin and Tri-County Co-op Gin.

We are a community that looks after the needs of our neighbors. The Wellington Opportunity Center is a non-profit center that offers after-school and summer programs for kindergarten through 5th grade at-risk children. At Wellington Endless Bargains, anyone can fill a sack with articles of donated clothing and household items and pay only $1.00. Volunteers for Collingsworth County Home Delivered Meals take food to shut-ins 5 days a week. Wellington Lions Club and the Leo Club provide many services such as city wide clean-up and they raise funds for community based projects such as the remodeling of the Community Center and to upgrade Ellison Park. Hearts United Give Support (HUGS) provides financial travel assistance to Collingsworth County individuals undergoing cancer treatment. Wellington Professional Women (WPW) raise funds to support HUGS and multiple other community services. There are individuals doing great things for this area.

Our small, quiet town is a wonderful place to live, away from the hustle and bustle of larger cities.