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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

Martin County, Texas

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

County Seat: Stanton
Year Organized: 1876
Square Miles: 915

Court House:

P.O. Box 1330
County Courthouse
Stanton, TX 79782-1330

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Wylie Martin, an early settler in Texas

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Martin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. Its seat is Stanton. The county is named for Wylie Martin, an early settler

Comanche Indians displaced Lipan Apaches in the region in the mid-eighteenth century and were in turn forced out by the United States Army after the Civil War.^qv Martin County was formed on August 21, 1876, from Bexar County and named for Wylie Martin,^qv one of Stephen F. Austin's^qv Old Three Hundred^qv colonists. Martin County was attached to Mitchell County for administrative purposes for five months and then attached to Howard County until 1884, when the county was reduced to its present size and organized with Mariensfield (now Stanton) as the county seat. The first white settlement in what is now Martin County was Grelton (later known as Mariensfield), which was established in 1881 by John Konz and his family under the sponsorship of the Texas and Pacific Railway. Railroad promotion was a key element in attracting settlers to West Texas. "It is emphatically the country for the poor man," urged one railroad brochure. "No matter how poor a man may be, if he has health he may easily become the possessor of independent wealth in a few years." In support of such optimistic forecasts the railroad started a twenty-acre experimental farm at Grelton for wheat, barley, rye, and oats. The region was pleasing in appearance and well watered by springs, including Mustang Pond, where United States Army officers had once observed Indians watering 1,000 mustangs. "This beautiful country," said one pioneer, "was just a lush garden with green plums, prairie chicken, and quail galore." In 1881 the Texas and Pacific line began service to its lands in the Martin County area, which it sold to settlers for $1.50 to two dollars per acre. The drought of 1886 almost depopulated the nascent community. Settlers planted grain, cotton, vegetables, vines, and orchards and hunted antelope, deer, quail, and the few buffalo^qv still remaining, to become self-sustaining. Cattle and, especially, sheep were introduced in greater numbers in the mid-1880s to utilize range not already preempted by Christopher C. Slaughter^qv and others who had run cattle since 1877. Slaughter's 37,500 section Lazy S Ranch extended into Martin County and had its headquarters at Mustang Spring. By 1890, 3,316 cattle and 12,600 sheep were in the county; by 1900, however, sheep raising was clearly on the wane, while cattle ranching had increased significantly. In 1890 only 663 sheep but 32,000 cattle were reported. Sheep farming would not really become an important part of Martin County's economy again until the 1930s

More at Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/hcm3.html (accessed November 7, 2008).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 916 square miles (2,371 km²), of which, 915 square miles (2,369 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (2 km²) of it (0.09%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Dawson County (north)
Howard County (east)
Glasscock County (southeast)
Midland County (south)
Andrews County (west)
Gaines County (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Ackerly	city	Incorporated Area
- Stanton (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."