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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
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Rockwall County, Texas

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

County Seat: Rockwall
Year Organized: 1873
Square Miles: 129
Court House:

101 East Rusk Street
Historic Courthouse
Rockwall, TX 75087-3724

Etymology - Origin of County Name

a geological wall of rock running under the county

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Rockwall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is Texas's smallest county in land area. Its seat is Rockwall.

The county was founded in 1873 because access to the county seat of Kaufman County, of which county the area was then a part, was inconvenient for the residents of what became Rockwall County. The county and city are named for a wall-like subterranean rock formation that runs throughout the county.


The region around Rockwall County was the home of several tribes of Caddo Indians. Cherokees from east of the Mississippi began to arrive in the area early in the nineteenth century, and as they spread, they almost annihilated the peaceful, agricultural Caddoes. When the first Anglo-Americans arrived in the valley of the East Fork of the Trinity sometime in the 1840s, they found these various Indian groups at war among themselves. The white settlers in the area seem to have had little problem with them, however. The National Roadqv of the Republic of Texasqv was surveyed and constructed in the mid-1840s through the area that would become Rockwall County. Running northeast from the Dallas area to the Red River, the road was a major route for settlers traveling to Peters colonyqv near the site of present-day Dallas. In 1846 the first settler, John O. Heath, received a grant from the Mercer colonyqv and established his home on the East Fork of the Trinity River near the crossing of the Central National Road. Occasionally when the swollen waters of the Trinity River prevented crossing, some families simply settled along the east bank of the river. The towns of Heath and Rockwall were thus founded along the highway. The first post office in the area was established in the Heath cabin in 1849 and named Black Hill. It operated there until 1855, when it was transferred to the new village of Rockwall. During the 1850s other families continued to settle along the river, while some moved eastward to the prairies to establish cattle ranches. Cattle raising was the principal industry in the first years of settlement, although small lots were fenced for cultivation, and razorback hogs were raised. A total of 240 pioneers came to hold original titles from the state. Several farmers were digging a well in 1851 when they discovered a subterranean rock wall or diker that crossed the county and occasionally appeared at ground level. Although scientific analysis indicated that the wall is a natural geological formation, folk tales persist that it was built by prehistoric natives. When it was surveyed and laid out in 1854 the town of Rockwall was named for the curious rock formation. In 1836 the area was established as part of Nacogdoches County, and when Texas joined the Union in 1845, it was included in Henderson County. Kaufman County was formed in 1847, and the region now known as Rockwall County was placed in the jurisdiction of the new county. In 1873, because the county seat, Kaufman, was inconvenient for the residents of the northern panhandle, Rockwall County was formed, taking its name from the town and geological formation. Rockwall was the first county seat and continues to hold that position, although in 1892 there was an unsuccessful attempt to make Fate the county seat. In 1873 Rockwall was incorporated.

More at Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/RR/hcr10.html (accessed November 8, 2008).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 149 square miles (385 kmē), making it the smallest county in Texas. 129 square miles (334 kmē) of it is land and 20 square miles (52 kmē) of it (13.39%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

  • Collin County (north)
  • Hunt County (east)
  • Kaufman County (south)
  • Dallas County (west)

Cities and Towns:

- Fate city Incorporated Area
- Heath city Incorporated Area
- McLendon-Chisholm city Incorporated Area
- Mobile City city Incorporated Area
- Rockwall (County Seat) city Incorporated Area
- Royse City city Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources
Counties: US Map
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."
 
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