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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

Moore County, Texas

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

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

Court House:

715 Dumas Avenue, Room 202
County Courthouse
Dumas, TX 79029-4368

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Edwin Ward Moore, the commodore of the Texan navy during the Republic of Texas

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Moore County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. Moore is named for Edwin Ward Moore, the commander of the Texas Navy. The county seat is Dumas, which is named for Louis Dumas, originally from the Sherman, Texas, area.

Although early Spanish explorers and later American expeditions crossed the county by way of the Canadian River, the entire region remained the domain of Indians from prehistoric times until the 1870s. Following the Red River War^qv of 1874, the Comanches and Kiowas were permanently removed to Indian Territory. In 1876 the Texas legislature formed Moore County from lands formerly assigned to Bexar County, and soon ranchers began moving into the area. Ranching dominated the local economy from the 1870s to the 1920s, when farming began to develop significantly. During 1877 George W. Littlefield^qv established his famous LIT Ranch^qv in southwestern Moore and eastern Hartley counties. Soon others followed. The LX Ranch,^qv with headquarters in Potter County, had substantial Moore County acreage, as did the LS Ranch,^qv which was headquartered in eastern Oldham County. Lesser stock-raising operations developed in the unclaimed ranges between these larger ranches. During the 1880s the local ranching economy stabilized, and the few stock raisers and farmers who lived in the county saw the need for a local government. The founding of the town of Dumas by Louis Dumas and the Panhandle Townsite Company in 1890 encouraged county organization. As a result, Moore County was organized with Dumas as the county seat following an election held on July 5, 1892. By 1900 there were fifty-seven ranches and farms in the county, encompassing about 115,500 acres, and the United States agricultural census reported 6,885 cattle and 300 sheep. Only 1,708 acres were classified as "improved," and only forty-two were devoted to corn, at that time the county's most important crop. The county population grew from 15 to 209 between 1890 and 1900.

More at Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/hcm18.html (accessed November 7, 2008).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 910 square miles (2,356 km²), of which, 900 square miles (2,330 km²) of it is land and 10 square miles (26 km²) of it (1.09%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Sherman County (north)
Hutchinson County (east)
Carson County (southeast)
Potter County (south)
Oldham County (southwest)
Hartley County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Cactus	city	Incorporated Area
- Channing	city	Incorporated Area
- Dumas (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Sunray	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."