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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

Motley County, Texas

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

County Seat: Matador
Year Organized: 1876
Square Miles: 989

Court House:

701 Dundee Street
County Courthouse
Matador, TX 79244-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Junius William Mottley, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence who was killed at the Battle of San Jacinto (spelling differs due to an error in the bill creating the county)

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Motley County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is named for Junius William Mottley, who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, who died in the Battle of San Jacinto; its name is spelled differently than his because the bill establishing the county misspelled Mottley's name. Its seat is Matador.

In 1890 the county had thirteen ranches, encompassing 30,225 acres, and the local economy was almost entirely devoted to cattle ranching. The agricultural census conducted that year reported 42,781 cattle, but only twenty-nine acres planted in corn and forty in wheat, the county's most important crops at that time. The first school was established near Whiteflat in 1890 with W. B. Clark as teacher. Settlers began to move to the county in greater numbers in the early 1890s; an incomplete 1891 tax roll listed 317 taxpayers. That same year the county was organized, with Matador as county seat. Since the General Land Office^qv required a county seat to have twenty businesses, Matador Ranch employees had opened temporary stores stocked with ranch supplies. During the 1890s the county was disturbed by friction between settlers and the managers of the Matador Ranch, who attempted to control the county government. In elections held in 1894 the Matador candidates won their usual offices, but in 1896 the settlers were numerous enough to elect their own favorites. The struggle went on until 1900, when the settlers' majority became substantial. By that year there were 209 ranches and farms in the county, and though the area continued to be dominated by ranching, crop farming was becoming established. The agricultural census reported 85,497 cattle that year, while corn culture^qv occupied 944 acres and cotton was grown on ninety-five acres. The census counted a population of 1,257 that year

More at Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/hcm20.html (accessed November 7, 2008).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 990 square miles (2,564 km²), of which, 989 square miles (2,562 km²) of it is land and 1 square miles (2 km²) of it (0.04%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Insert Counties Here

Cities and Towns:

- Matador (County Seat)	town	Incorporated Area
- Roaring Springs	town	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."