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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

Delta County, Texas

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

County Seat: Cooper
Year Organized: 1870
Square Miles: 277

Court House:

200 W. Dallas Avenue
County Courthouse
Cooper, TX 75432-1724

Etymology - Origin of County Name

its triangular shape, much like the Greek letter Delta

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Delta County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas.It is named for its triangular shape, much like the Greek letter Delta. Two forks of the Sulphur River form its northern and southern boundaries, and meet at its easternmost point. Its seat is Cooper

At the end of the war the pioneers who had settled between the two rivers turned their attention to rebuilding an agricultural and herding economy. As the less-isolated county seats of Hopkins and Lamar Counties grew and developed, people from the river delta were forced to travel long distances over inadequate dirt roads and to cross waterways that were often flooded for long periods of time. In 1868 they petitioned the legislature to form a new county that would include parts of Hopkins, Lamar, Hunt, and Fannin counties. After much debate, Texas lawmakers granted their request on July 29, 1870, but only after excluding Hunt and Fannin counties because neither wished to be included. Governor Edmund J. Davis^qv designated a five-man board of commissioners to organize the new district, to be called Delta County for its triangular shape. The county seat would be a new town named Cooper after Leroy Cooper, chairman of the House Committee on Counties and Boundaries, and situated directly between the North and South Sulphur rivers. Erastus Blackwell was appointed sheriff to supervise land sales. The first county election was held on October 6, 1870, to organize the municipal government, and Charles S. Nidever, John P. Boyd, J. F. Alexander, Alfred Allen, and J. M. Bledsoe were elected the first county commissioners. County organization, however, failed to settle continuing political divisions. In the election of 1872, Horace Greeley, the liberal Republican candidate endorsed by the Democrats, captured 50 percent of the vote, while Republican Ulysses S. Grant received 40 percent. Although the entire state became solidly Democratic after Governor Davis was defeated in 1873 by Democrat Richard Coke,^qv the Republican party^qv remained an important factor in Delta County politics. In 1876 local voters chose Democrat Samuel B. Tilden over Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, but only by a narrow margin of sixty-one votes.

More at Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/DD/hcd5.html (accessed November 5, 2008).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 278 square miles (720 km²), of which, 277 square miles (718 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (2 km²) of it (0.30%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Lamar County (north and northeast)
Red River County (east-northeast, a very short border at the eastern point of the county)
Franklin County (east-southeast, a very short border at the eastern point of the county)
Hopkins County (south and southeast)
Hunt County (southwest)
Fannin County (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Cooper (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Pecan Gap	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

Online High Schools

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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