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Texas Counties

Texas is divided into 254 counties, more than any other U.S. state Texas was originally divided into municipalities, a unit of local government under Spanish and Mexican rule. When the Republic of Texas gained its independence in 1836, there were 23 municipalities, which became the original Texas counties. Many of these would later be divided into new counties. The most recent county to be created was Kenedy County in 1921. The most recent county to be organized was Loving County in 1931

Briscoe County, Texas

Briscoe County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Silverton
Year Organized: 1876
Square Miles: 900

Court House:

P.O. Box 375
County Courthouse
Silverton, TX 79257-0375

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Andrew Briscoe, a soldier during the Texas Revolution

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Briscoe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. Its county seat is Silverton. Briscoe is named for Andrew Briscoe, a soldier during the Texas Revolution.

The town of Quitaque began in 1890 as a stage stop. Merchants and other businessmen also trickled in; in 1891 Thomas J. Braidfoot laid out the townsite of Silverton and led the movement for the organization of the county. By the spring of 1892 enough settlers had arrived to bring Braidfoot's plan to fruition. A petition was circulated, and on March 15, 1892, the electorate officially organized the county and chose Silverton as its seat. J. N. Stalbird was elected the first county judge, F. D. Fisher county attorney, R. I. Hanna treasurer, T. L. Anderson clerk, and Miner Crawford sheriff. By 1900 the population had grown to 1,253, and six school districts had been established. Immigrant farmers introduced various crops to the region before World War I,^qv the most promising of which were wheat, sorghum, and cotton. Cotton was first grown in Briscoe County on an experimental basis but became one of the county's most important crops by 1930. In 1900 only eight acres of Briscoe County land was planted in cotton; in 1910 over 3,400 acres were devoted to the fiber, then 7,535 acres in 1920, and over 36,000 acres in 1929. The county's first gin was built in 1912.

More at Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/BB/hcb15.html (accessed November 4, 2008).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 902 square miles (2,335 km²), of which, 901 square miles (2,332 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (3 km²) of it (0.15%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Armstrong County (north)
Donley County (northeast)
Hall County (east)
Motley County (southeast)
Floyd County (south)
Swisher County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Quitaque	city	Incorporated Area
- Silverton (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

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