Anderson County, Texas

Anderson County Courthouse
administration
US state :	Texas
Administrative headquarters :	Palestine
Address of the administrative headquarters:	Anderson County Courthouse 500 N. Church Street Palestine, Texas 75801
Foundation :	March 24, 1846
Made up from:	Houston County
Area code :	001 903
Demographics
Residents :	58,458  (2010)
Population density :	21.1 inhabitants / km 2
geography
Total area :	2792 km²
Water surface :	19 km²
map
Website : www.co.anderson.tx.us

Anderson County is a county in the state of Texas in the United States . The county seat is in Palestine . The county was founded in 1836, is rural and had a population of 57,772 in 2016.

geography

North Center Anderson County: Soil Renewal Using Grass Burning

Anderson County is located in East Texas , between the Trinity River and the Neches River . It is bordered clockwise by the following counties: Henderson County , Cherokee County , Houston County , Leon County , Freestone County, and Navarro County . The distance to the border with Louisiana is around 150 kilometers, the distance to the two central Texas centers Dallas and Austin and the Texas capital Houston around 200 kilometers. The county covers an area of ​​2,792 square kilometers; 19 of them are bodies of water. Geographically, it is on the edge of the transition zone between the wooded East Texas Timberland region west of the Sabine River and the more open prairie landscape of central Texas . The terrain is hilly and has heights of 60 to 200  m . It is drained in the west by the Trinity River and its tributaries Massey Lake, Mansion Creek and Keechie Creek, in the east by the Neches River and its tributaries Hurricane Creek, Lone Creek and Brushy Creek. The western part of the central Texas prairie zone is used for pasture farming, the wooded east for timber . The soil is considered fertile; In terms of mineral resources, the region has oil , gas and iron ore .

The climatic conditions are temperate subtropical conditions with comparatively mild winters and hot summers . Average temperatures in January are below 10 ° C, in July and August below 30 ° C. The rainfall moving average for the year to 80 mm per month. In May and October it is over 100, in July and August it drops to around 60 mm.

The center of the county is the city ​​of Palestine . The status of town (ger .: Town) have Frankston on the northern and Elkhart on the southern county border. Around 1200 people live in Frankston, around 1300 in Elkhart and around 18,000 in Palestine. In addition, there are around two dozen unicorporated areas - communities that only exist for administrative reasons. Important connecting roads are the US Highways 79, 84, 175 and 287 as well as the State Highways 19, 155 and 294. With the exception of State Highway 294 , which runs along the southern county border , the listed road network is oriented towards the county capital Palestine. In the eastern part of the county is the Neches River National Wildlife Refuge - a nature reserve designated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service .

history

East and Central Texas at the time of the Texan War of Independence

John H. Reagan (ca.1860–1865)

In the 18th century the region was inhabited by different Indian tribes - including Tawakoni, Kickapoo and other tribes belonging to the extended family of the Wichita peoples. In 1826 David G. Burnet received a settlement permit for the area from the Mexican government. The first Texan settlers settled in the region in the early 1830s. 1835 was built southwest of today's Palestine Fort Houston. During the campaign of General Antonio López de Santa Anna to suppress the Texan struggle for independence , the region was also affected. Many settlers in the neighboring areas to the west withdrew to Fort Houston - also because of Indian attacks. On May 19, 1836 attacked Comanche and Kiowa that in Limestone County location Fort Parker and killed or kidnapped a number of those who had not been brought to safety to Fort Houston or to other places. Among the latter was Cynthia Ann Parker - the mother of the last Comanche war chief Quanah Parker . A punitive expedition under General Thomas J. Rush in 1838 finally ended the Indian fighting in East Texas .

In the 1840s, settlement of the area increased. On March 24, 1846, Anderson County was recreated from parts of Houston County . It was named after Kenneth Lewis Anderson, the last vice president of the Republic of Texas . An area near Fort Houston was designated as the administrative headquarters - today's Palestine. The city began with a post office and a plan for a court seat ; In 1848 it had 210 inhabitants. The newly founded city soon developed into the dominant center of the new district; Already 40 years it had almost 6,000 residents. The county's population increased from 2,884 to 10,398 from 1850 to 1860; the number of unfree slaves increased from around 600 to 3,668 in the same period. Most of the newcomers came from the southern states and Missouri . Economically, agriculture was the main focus - including the production of cotton . During the Civil War , the county's population was almost unanimous in support of the Confederation cause . Originally from Palestine, John H. Reagan was a member of the Cabinet of the Confederate Government as Minister of Post . As in many other southern regions, the residents of Anderson County put up persistent resistance to the policy of reconstruction and the associated implementation of slave emancipation.

The county continued to develop in the 1870s and 1880s. An important infrastructure measure was the connection to the national rail network - especially the establishment of direct connections to the Gulf Coast centers Houston and Galveston . A US $ 150,000 bond initiated by Judge Reagan ensured the establishment of machine and repair workshops as well as the general office of the Texas International Great Northern Railroad in Palestine. The city - divided into the two parts of Old Town and New Town - now had a business district, several schools, a number of mills and cotton mills , a theater , a waterworks , a fire department , two private banks and several churches - two of which are for African Americans were reserved. The county's population rose from a low at the end of the Civil War (9229) to over 20,000 in 1890 and nearly 30,000 ten years later. The numerical ratio between white and black residents, which had been almost the same after the civil war, slowly reversed in favor of the white majority: in 1940 it was 68 percent. In economic terms, agriculture was the main source of income until the 1940s. The main products were corn , cotton, sweet potatoes , hay and - from the 1920s - peanuts . The timber industry in the eastern part of the county began to grow in importance in the 1930s. In addition, there was the production of oil and natural gas. Local oil production began in the 1910s and 1920s. The oil boom was a major factor in making the Great Depression less severe in Anderson County than elsewhere.

After the Second World War , companies from the manufacturing sector increasingly settled in the region. The rate of those who have completed school education increased from 24 percent in 1950 to 51 percent in 1980.

Demographics and Politics

growth of population
Census	Residents		± in%
1850	2884		-
1860	10,398		260.5%
1870	9229		-11.2%
1880	17,395		88.5%
1890	20,923		20.3%
1900	28,015		33.9%
1910	29,650		5.8%
1920	34,318		15.7%
1930	34,643		0.9%
1940	37.092		7.1%
1950	31,875		-14.1%
1960	28,162		-11.6%
1970	27,789		-1.3%
1980	38,381		38.1%
1990	48,024		25.1%
2000	55.109		14.8%
2010	58,458		6.1%

The county's population has risen steadily since it was founded in the 19th century - from just under 2,900 in 1850 to around 58,000 in 2010 1970s. According to 2016 data from the United States Census Bureau, the county's population was 57,772 people. 35,381 of these were male , 22,391 female ; With a male surplus of 61.1% to 38.8%, the gender ratio deviated significantly from the US average (49.2% to 50.8%). 46,581 inhabitants were older than 18 years, 11,191 inhabitants were children or adolescents , 7,919 inhabitants were older than 65 years. The median age was 38.9 years. 34,680 or 60% of the respondents described themselves as white , 12,246 or 21.2% as African American , 336 or 0.6% as of Asian origin; 206, or 0.4%, classified their ethnicity as North American Indians. 496 or 0.9% said they belonged to two or more ethnic groups. Regardless of the question about the census declaration Race , 9,799 inhabitants (15%) described themselves as Hispanic or Latino.

According to Quickfacts information on census.gov , the median income per household was 42,146 US dollars (USD). The median values ​​determined are below both those of the state of Texas (US $ 51,900) and those of the United States as a whole (US $ 53,000). The census showed 20.5% of people living in poverty and 19.1% of people without health insurance .

Politically, Anderson County has the typical preferences of rural southern counties. Like the state , Anderson County was a Democratic stronghold . Up until the 1948 election , Democratic candidates emerged victorious in almost every presidential election . The only exceptions were the years 1924 and 1928 , when Republicans Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover won the majority of the votes. From the Eisenhower election in 1952 , the district voted Republican in almost all elections. The only exceptions to the new preference were the 1964 , 1968 and 1976 elections , when the Democrats Lyndon B. Johnson , Hubert Humphrey and Jimmy Carter ran . Compared to the election results for the entire state, the election results for the Republican candidates were 10 to 20 percent higher: In the second Bush election in 2004 , George W. Bush received around 71 percent of the vote in the county (in all of Texas: 61 percent ). John McCain and Mitt Romney , as opposed to Barack Obama, received 71 and 76 percent of the vote in 2008 and 2012 (in Texas as a whole: 55 and 57 percent, respectively). Donald Trump received 78 percent of the vote in 2016 in County, compared to 52 in all of Texas.

Economy, employment and education

Kimball Oilfield near Palestine (1992)

Red Brick Schoolhouse in Palestine (1933)

Agriculture is still an important economic factor. In 2002 there were 1,735 farms and ranchings in the county. They took possession of a total area of ​​almost 1,480 square kilometers, of which 37 percent was used for agriculture, 35 percent for cattle breeding and 24 percent for forestry . Oil and gas production, the volume of which continued to increase in the 1970s and 1980s, is also a constant economic factor. The manufacturing industry - especially in the areas of glass containers , clothing , auto parts , metal and wood products, aluminum and furniture - accounted for more than 55 percent of the workforce in 1980. Other sectors such as transport , retail and wholesale , finance and services have also advanced to become economic factors. Another important employer in the county is the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which operates five prisons in the county and employs around 3,500 people.

According to the census figures, more than 64 percent of the county's residents have a high school degree - and more than 11 percent have a college degree. The public school system is divided into the county-based independent school districts Cayuga, Neches, Palestine (around 3,500 students), Slocum and Weltwood. In addition, there are the independent school districts of Athens , Elkhart, Frankston and La Poynor, which serve areas outside the county or teach students from the county. Some of the school systems listed - including that of the district capital Palestine - are classified as "academically acceptable" by the federal ranking.

Media, culture and sights

Historic Place in Palestine: William and Caroline Broyles House

Local newspapers in the area include the Palestine Herald-Press, which appears Tuesday through Friday and Sunday, and the Frankston Citizen in Frankston. The Palestine Herald-Press was founded in 1849 under the name Palestine Advocat and is now part of the CNHI group based in Montgomery , Alabama .

Among the cultural attractions of the city include the 1848 built and now as a museum used Howard House, the Museum for East Texas Culture and the Carnegie Library . Listed as Historic Places include: the Anderson County Courthouse in Palestine, the North Side Historic District, a number of buildings and the Freeman Farm in Frankston. The region also offers recreational opportunities close to nature. The Neches River National Wildlife Refuge is designated as a nature reserve . There is also the Big Lake Bottom Wildlife park on the border with neighboring Freestone County and the Gus Engeling WMA .

When it comes to the consumption of alcoholic beverages , Anderson County is one of the "Wet Counties", where sales and serving are not subject to any particular restrictions.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See map Soils of Texas , Texas Almanac, accessed January 11, 2018 (Engl.)
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Anderson County . Georgia Kemp Caraway, Texas State Historical Association Web site, June 9, 2010.
3. ↑ Climate diagram for Palestine . de.climate-data.com, accessed on January 11, 2018
4. ^ Overview of Anderson County, Texas . Overview on statisticalatlas.com, accessed on January 11, 2018
5. ↑ ^{a b} Palestine, TX (Anderson County) . Lester Hamilton, Texas State Historical Association Web site, June 15, 2010.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Texas Almanac: Population History of Countys from 1850-2010 . Accessed January 11, 2018 (English; PDF)
7. ^ Anderson County, Texas . ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates, 2016, American FactFinder, accessed January 11, 2018.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Anderson County, Texas , summary on the website of the United States Census Bureau, accessed January 11, 2018 (Engl.)
9. ^ Household Income in Anderson County, Texas . Household income overview on statisticalatlas.com, accessed January 6, 2018
10. ↑ 2016 Presidential General Election Results . Interactive map on useclectionatlas.org, results accessed on January 11, 2018 (Engl.)
11. ↑ Texas Department of Criminal Justice . Official overview of the prisons operated, accessed on January 11, 2018 (Engl.)
12. ^ Anderson County, Texas Public School Districts . School district overview on andersoncountytexas.us, accessed on January 11, 2018 (Engl.)
13. ↑ Editor . Information on job advertisement of CNHI LLC, November 19, 2015 (Engl.)
14. ↑ Information on the Big Lake Bottom WMA and the Gus Engeling WMA on the website "Texas Parks & Wildlife", accessed on January 11, 2018 (Engl.)
15. ↑ See map Wet / Dry Conties 2014 , Texas Almanac, accessed on January 11, 2018 (English; PDF)

Web links

Commons : Anderson County, Texas  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

• Official website of the Anderson County (Engl.)
• Anderson County . Anderson County listing on the Texas State Historical Association website
• Website of the Palestine Herald-Press (Engl.)
• Website of the Museum for East Texas Culture (Engl.)