Wise County, Texas, USA

Wise County is located in North Texas along the northwestern edge of the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan region, with Decatur serving as the county seat. The county covers approximately 900 square miles and includes a mixture of rolling prairie, wooded creek valleys, ranchland, farms, small towns and rapidly expanding exurban development, particularly in its southeastern communities nearest Fort Worth and Denton. Its principal municipalities include Decatur, Bridgeport, Boyd, Rhome, Paradise, Runaway Bay, Aurora, Chico and Newark, while portions of Fort Worth extend into the county. U.S. highways 81/287 and 380 provide major regional connections, and Lake Bridgeport is one of the county’s most prominent geographic features. Wise County was established in 1856 from part of Cooke County and was named for Henry A. Wise, a Virginia politician who supported the annexation of Texas; the county had 68,632 residents in the 2020 census.