Biohazard Cleanup Near North Fritch Fritch, TX

Fritch is a small city in the Texas Panhandle that straddles the county line between Hutchinson County and Moore County, near the canyon breaks of the Canadian River.

Fritch began as a railroad town — the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad arranged to buy its right-of-way in 1924, and the tracks had reached Fritch by July 1, 1927.

The town was named for H. C. "Fred" Fritch of Chicago, a vice president of the Rock Island Railroad who arranged the right-of-way purchase.

Fritch grew slowly for decades — in 1940 it had only a store, a post office, and an estimated 75 residents — until construction of Sanford Dam on the Canadian River prompted it to incorporate in 1959.

Sanford Dam created Lake Meredith, and by the dam's completion in 1965 Fritch had grown to about 2,800 people, drawn by the new lake recreation areas alongside ranching, farming, and oil and gas.

Fritch hosts the National Park Service headquarters for the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, which offers boating, fishing, camping, hiking, and seasonal hunting around the lake.

Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, a nationally significant Native American flint-quarry site on Lake Meredith's southeastern shore, lies about 10 miles southwest of Fritch.

On June 27, 1992, a mile-wide, multi-vortex F4 tornado struck Fritch, destroying about 100 homes and injuring seven people — but causing no loss of life.

A fast-moving wildfire in May 2014 forced the evacuation of Fritch and destroyed homes in the area.

Fritch's population peaked at 2,335 in 1990 and has eased back since — the 2020 census counted 1,859 residents, and the 2000 census recorded 886 households in the city.