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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

Goliad County, Texas

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

County Seat: Goliad
Year Organized: 1836
Square Miles: 854

Court House:

P.O. Box 677
County Courthouse
Goliad, TX 77963-0677

Etymology - Origin of County Name

its county seat, which preceded the modern county. Goliad is named for the Mexican Municipality of Goliad, which in turn is named for Father Miguel Hidalgo; "Goliad" is an anagram of Hidalgo, minus the silent H.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Goliad County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. Its county seat is Goliad. Goliad is named for the Mexican Municipality of Goliad, which in turn is named for Father Miguel Hidalgo; "Goliad" is an anagram of Hidalgo, minus the silent H.

Goliad County became one of the twenty-three original counties established by the First Congress of the Republic of Texas in 1836. Resettlement was slow, primarily centered around the La Bahía-Goliad town, which remained the business center, but also at nearby areas that became the towns of Charco and Fannin. Also, Schroeder and Weesatche were settled by the German immigrations of the 1840s, which made Goliad County, like neighboring DeWitt and Victoria counties, a large area of German location. Despite some crop cultivation, the county's chief industry remained ranching, dominated by Americans. Mexican residents engaged mainly in carting merchandise from the coast to the interior, especially along the Indianola-Goliad-San Antonio Road. This business, however, became so important that in 1857 a "war" was fought among Mexican-Texan and Anglo-Texan teamsters for its control (see CART WAR). The instigators of this war were among those hanged from the boughs of Goliad's "Hanging Tree," believed to be one of the oldest oaks in Texas and recurrently used as the venue for executions. Goliad during the republic was described by one resident as "a `wild, recky, Indiany looking place'...full of lawless men [who] would throw the rawhide on to [anyone] in a way that was a pity and a caution." Indian raids were frequently perpetrated, especially by Lipan Apaches, Comanches, and Karankawas. The convergence of roads that underpinned Goliad's historically strategic location also made the county vulnerable during the Mexican invasions of 1842,^qv when Rafael Vásquez^qv entered the county. The Texans who formed the retaliatory Mier expedition^qv also passed through the county. During the republic Goliad also had one of the many horse-racing courses popular in the new nation, a tradition still kept alive by La Bahia Downes. This racetrack near Goliad, organized in 1961, is the oldest one in Texas as measured in consecutive years of quarter horse^qv races. The boundaries of Goliad County as fixed on December 2, 1841, by the Sixth Congress of the republic were changed a number of times. Though the county had been enlarged in 1841, when the Refugio county line was adjusted, it was reduced under the republic by the establishment of DeWitt County in 1842 and further reduced under the state legislature by the organization of DeWitt County in 1846, the establishment of Karnes County in 1854, and the formation of Bee County in 1857. Goliad County was further diminished when the Victoria-Goliad county line was moved from Coleto Creek to the San Antonio River in 1861.

More at Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/GG/hcg6.html (accessed November 5, 2008).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 859 square miles (2,226 km²), of which, 854 square miles (2,211 km²) of it is land and 6 square miles (15 km²) of it (0.68%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

DeWitt County (north)
Victoria County (northeast)
Refugio County (southeast)
Bee County (southwest)
Karnes County (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

Goliad (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."