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Texas Counties

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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

Dallas County, Texas

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

County Seat: Dallas
Year Organized: 1846
Square Miles: 880

Court House:

411 Elm Sreet, Floor 2
County Administration Building
Dallas, TX 75202-3317

Etymology - Origin of County Name

George Mifflin Dallas, the eleventh vice president of the United States

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Dallas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area (colloquially referred to as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex). As of the 2007 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,366,511 and is now the ninth most populous county in the United States.

Its county seat is Dallas, which is also the largest city in the county, the third-largest city in Texas, and the ninth-largest city in the United States. Dallas County is the most populous county within the metropolitan area and contains the largest of its principal cities. The county was named in honor of George Mifflin Dallas, the eleventh vice president of the United States.

As of 2008, Dallas county leads the United States in wrongful convictions later overturned. Unlike many jurisdictions, the crime lab used by Dallas police and prosecutors retains biological evidence, making DNA testing possible even in old crimes. District attorney Craig Watkins also attributes the exonerations to a past culture of overly aggressive prosecutors seeking convictions at any cost. (DNA clears man in prison for 26 years". AP (2008-01-03). )

In 1845 voters in the future Dallas County approved the annexation^qv of Texas to the United States by a vote of 29 to 3. On March 30, 1846, Dallas County was officially formed by order of the state legislature from portions of Nacogdoches and Robertson counties, and named probably for George Mifflin Dallas, vice president of the United States under James K. Polk (see DALLAS, TEXAS). At Dallas, the temporary county seat, a log cabin was built to serve as a courthouse. In 1850 an election was held to find a permanent county seat. A runoff election was held after the first vote yielded 191 votes for Dallas, 178 for Hord's Ridge, and 101 for Cedar Springs. Dallas beat Hord's Ridge 244 to 216 in the runoff. By 1850 Dallas County had a population of 2,743, and by 1860 the number of residents had almost tripled to 8,665. Though the slave population rose faster than the white population, Dallas County had fewer slaves than some other Texas counties. In 1850 the 207 slaves were 8 percent of the population, but by 1860 slaves constituted 12 percent of the population. These 1,074 slaves were owned by 228 slaveholders. In 1850 the county had two churches and ten one-teacher public schools with a total of 170 pupils. The population resided on 278 farms with a value of $175,502. The largest crop was corn, with 94,870 bushels, and cotton was a minor crop with only 44 bales. Cotton was originally grown primarily for home use, but by 1849 Farmers Branch had the first cotton gin in the county. By 1860 wheat was a major Dallas County crop, and many gristmills had been constructed to grind the grain. In 1850 stockmen raised more hogs (6,089) than cattle, but by 1860 cattle numbered 35,431 and sheep 20,974, while hogs numbered only 16,113.

More at Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/hcd2.html (accessed November 5, 2008).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 908 square miles (2,352 km2), of which, 880 square miles (2,279 km2) of it is land and 29 square miles (75 km2) of it (3.19%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Collin County (north)
Rockwall County (northeast)
Kaufman County (east)
Ellis County (south)
Tarrant County (west)
Denton County (northwest)
Johnson County (southwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Addison	town	Incorporated Area
- Balch Springs	city	Incorporated Area
- Carrollton	city	Incorporated Area
- Cedar Hill	city	Incorporated Area
- Cockrell Hill	city	Incorporated Area
- Combine	city	Incorporated Area
- Coppell	city	Incorporated Area
- Dallas (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Duncanville	city	Incorporated Area
- Farmers Branch	city	Incorporated Area
- Garland	city	Incorporated Area
- Grand Prairie	city	Incorporated Area
- Highland Park	town	Incorporated Area
- Hutchins	city	Incorporated Area
- Irving	city	Incorporated Area
- Lancaster	city	Incorporated Area
- Mesquite	city	Incorporated Area
- Richardson	city	Incorporated Area
- Rowlett	city	Incorporated Area
- Sachse	city	Incorporated Area
- Seagoville	city	Incorporated Area
- Sunnyvale	town	Incorporated Area
- University Park	city	Incorporated Area
- Wilmer	city	Incorporated Area
- Wylie	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resource Guide

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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