Archer County and a county seat to be named Archer City were created by the Texas legislature in 1858 in Kiowa and Comanche lands, but the first Anglo-American settlers did not arrive until 1874. Oil was discovered in Archer County in 1912 and has continued modest production since. By 1914, the Wichita Falls and Southern and the Southwestern railroads served the town. Much of the movie The Last Picture Show (1971), based on Archer City native Larry McMurtry’s novel of 1966, was filmed here and highlights the former Royal Theater (113 E. Main Street), of which only the facade remains after being gutted by fire in 1965. Since 2000 the open-air building shell is used for a variety of theatrical productions; the marquee is a c. 1998 reconstruction.
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