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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

Wilson County, Texas

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

County Seat: Floresville
Year Organized: 1860
Square Miles: 807

Court House:

1420 3rd St.
County Courthouse
Floresville, TX 78114-2200

Etymology - Origin of County Name

James Charles Wilson, a Texas state senator, member of the ill-fated Somervell Expedition into Mexico, and Methodist minister

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Wilson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. Its county seat is Floresville. The county is named after James Charles Wilson.

The first Anglo settlers arrived in the region in the late 1840s, settling along the Ecleto and Cibolo creeks. Between 1850 and 1860 planters from the Southern states moved into the area, as did German immigrants from Guadalupe County and Polish immigrants from Karnes County. Wilson County was established by an act of the legislature on February 13, 1860. It was cut from Bexar and Karnes counties and named for Somervell expedition^qv member and legislator, James C. Wilson.^qv Sutherland Springs was designated the county seat, and Dr. G. J. Houston, one of the first residents of La Vernia, was appointed as commissioner to organize the new county. William Sutherland became chief justice, S. W. Barker was sheriff, and John Irwin's storehouse became a temporary courthouse. By the eve of the Civil War^qv Wilson County had a population of 1,500. Because of the emphasis on cattle-raising rather than a plantation economy, the number of slaves remained small; in 1860 there were only a few hundred slaves in the county. Nevertheless, Wilson County residents voted for secession^qv and most actively supported the Confederate cause. Several companies of militia were organized. A protracted period of drought lasting from 1862 to 1865 further compounded wartime hardships. Because of the relatively small number of slaves, however, abolition did not affect the fortunes of Wilson County residents as severely as it did in other counties, and the economy rebounded more quickly than in many other parts of the state. In the years after the Civil War, Wilson County experienced a period of flux. John W. Longsworth, appointed judge and county clerk by the military government during congressional Reconstruction,^qv moved the county records to Lodi in 1867, beginning a controversy about the location of the county seat that lasted for more than a decade. The county seat was returned to Sutherland Springs in March 1871 but moved back to Lodi in July 1871. An election was finally held in November 1873 to determine the location of county government, and the new town of Floresville, near the geographic center of the county, was selected as the new county seat. The citizens of Sutherland Springs called for a new election in 1883, but Floresville once again won by a margin of 250. The courthouse at Floresville was destroyed by fire in 1883, but the records were saved. The same year officials appointed noted San Antonio architect Alfred Giles^qv to design a new courthouse in Floresville.

More at Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/WW/hcw12.html (accessed November 9, 2008).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 809 square miles (2,094 km²), of which, 807 square miles (2,090 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.20%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Guadalupe County (north)
Gonzales County (northeast)
Karnes County (southeast)
Atascosa County (southwest)
Bexar County (northwest)

Cities and Towns:

- Floresville (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- La Vernia	city	Incorporated Area
- Poth	town	Incorporated Area
- Stockdale	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."