Bowie County, TX
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Bowie County ( ) is a
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. Its legal
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
is
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, though its courthouse is located in New Boston. As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,893. Bowie County is part of the Texarkana metropolitan statistical area. The county is named for
James Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...
, the legendary knife fighter who died at the
Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Ant ...
.


History


Native Americans

The farming
Caddoan Mississippian culture The Caddoan Mississippian culture was a prehistoric Native American culture considered by archaeologists as a variant of the Mississippian culture. The Caddoan Mississippians covered a large territory, including what is now Eastern Oklahoma, Wes ...
dates as early as the Late Archaic Period 1500 BCE in Bowie County. UT Texas at Austin The
Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1500 – 21 May, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire ...
expedition of 1541 resulted in violent encounters. Spanish and French missionaries brought
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
,
measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
, and
influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
epidemics. Oklahoma Historical Society Eventually, these issues and problems with the
Osage The Osage Nation, a Native American tribe in the United States, is the source of most other terms containing the word "osage". Osage can also refer to: * Osage language, a Dhaegin language traditionally spoken by the Osage Nation * Osage (Unicode b ...
, forced the Caddo to abandon their homelands. Settlers had peaceful relations with the 19th Century
Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
,
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
, and
Kickapoo Kickapoo may refer to: People * Kickapoo people, a Native American nation ** Kickapoo language, spoken by that people ** Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas, a federally recognized tribe of Kickapoo people ** Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, a federally recog ...
in the area.


Explorations and county established

French explorer
Jean Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...
founded the military fort
Le Poste des Cadodaquious Le Poste des Cadodaquious was a small French fort founded in 1719; it was located northwest of Texarkana, Texas in today's Bowie County. Recent analysis suggests that the site was somewhere on the escarpment near either Everett or Barkman. T ...
in 1719. Texas State Historical Association The fort remained in continuous use until 1770. The Red River Expedition of 1806 which passed through Bowie County, Texas State Historical Association headed by Thomas Freeman and Dr. Peter Custis, was of great diplomatic and economic importance to President Thomas Jefferson. Bowie County, named for
James Bowie James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...
, was established in December 1840 and reduced to its present size in 1846.
DeKalb DeKalb or De Kalb may refer to: People * Baron Johann de Kalb (1721–1780), major general in the American Revolutionary War Places Municipalities in the United States * DeKalb, Illinois, the largest city in the United States named DeKalb ** DeK ...
was the temporary county seat, with
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
becoming the permanent county seat in 1841. Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC. Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC. Bowie County, in the years leading up to the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
, was settled mostly by Southerners who brought their slave labor to work the cotton fields. By 1860, slaves outnumbered whites 2,651 to 2,401. The county voted 208–15 in favor of
secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
from the Union. While Bowie was never a battlefield in that war, it was occupied during Reconstruction. Between 1860 and 1870, the population declined. The occupation, and the new legal equality of blacks, became a hostile situation that fostered Cullen Baker.
Cullen Montgomery Baker Cullen Montgomery Baker (June 23, 1835 – January 1869) was a Tennessee-born desperado whose gang terrorized Union soldiers and civilians in Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas, and Northwest Louisiana during the early days of the American O ...
(b. ''circa'' 1835 - d. 1869) was a twice-widowed, mean-spirited drunk who killed his first man before he was 20. When Thomas Orr married Baker's late wife's sister, thereby denying Baker that opportunity, Baker attempted to hang Orr. Legends abound as to his activities in Bowie and Cass Counties, including a rumored tie to the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
. His exploits turned him into a folk hero dubbed "The Swamp Fox of the Sulphur River". Texas State Historical Association He was a Confederate States Army veteran who joined two units, designated as a deserter from the first, and receiving a disability discharge from the second. Texas State Historical Association Reconstruction allowed him to focus his anger toward what many at the time believed was a Union intrusion into their lives. Baker and his gang conducted a vicious rampage against citizens he perceived as being on the wrong side of the black labor issue, at William G. Kirkman and the
Freedman's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a U ...
in Bowie County, and at the soldiers of the Union occupation. Kirkman unsuccessfully pursued Baker, killing one of Baker's men in the second attempt. Like Swamp Fox Francis Marion, Baker always managed to elude capture, often with the help of local citizens. Kirkland was murdered by "person or persons unknown", Texas State Historical Association but Baker boasted of having done the deed. In December 1869, Thomas Orr and a group of neighbors killed Baker. A local legend has it the deed was accomplished with strychnine-laced whiskey. When the Texas and Pacific Railway was constructed through the county, a new town named Texarkana was founded. Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC. Bowie was hit hard by the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Measurable relief came late when the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant was established in 1942. The base was active until 2009. =United States Army The Red River Army Depot, GlobalSecurity.org opened in 1941, remains active. The two installations occupied almost and provided job opportunities for thousands.


Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (4.1%) is covered by water. Bowie County, Texas is one of only three counties in Texas to border two other U.S. states (the others being Dallam and Cass). Bowie County forms part of the tripoint of Texas-Oklahoma-Arkansas.


Communities


Cities

* De Kalb * Hooks *
Leary Leary may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * King Leary or Lóegaire mac Néill, an Irish king *Leary (surname) Places *Leary, Georgia, U.S. *Leary, Texas, U.S. Other uses *'' Leary v. United States'', a 1969 U.S. Supreme Court case * Lt. Leary series, ...
* Maud * Nash * New Boston (courthouse in city) * Red Lick * Redwater * Texarkana (largest city) * Wake Village


Unincorporated communities

* Bassett * Beaver Dam *
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
*
Burns Burns may refer to: * Burn, an injury (plural) People: * Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters Business: * Burns London, a British guitar maker Places: ;In the United States * Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...
* Carbondale * College Hill * Corley * Dalby Springs * Hoot *
Hubbard Hubbard may refer to: Places Canada *Hubbard, Saskatchewan *Hubbards, Nova Scotia Canada/United States * Mount Hubbard, a mountain on the Alaska/Yukon border *Hubbard Glacier, a large freshwater glacier in Alaska and Yukon Greenland *Hubbard Gla ...
* Malta * Oak Grove * Old Boston * Old Salem * Old Union * Red Bank * Siloam *
Simms Simms may refer to: First or middle name * Anna Simms Banks (1862–1923), American educator and politician * E. Simms Campbell (1906–1971), American cartoonist * Mary Simms Oliphant (1891–1988), American historian * Simms Taback (1932–2011 ...
* Spring Hill * South Texarkana * Victory City * Wamba * Ward Creek


Ghost towns

* Darden * Eylau *
Hartman __NOTOC__ Hartman is surname of German language, German origin. Notable people with the surname include: A *Angélica María, Angélica María Hartman (born 1944), American-born Mexican actress and singer *Anton Hartman (1918–1982), South Afri ...
* Hodgson *
Sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...


Demographics

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' At of the census of 2000, 89,306 people, 33,058 households, and 23,438 families resided in the county. The population density was . The 36,463 housing units averaged 41 per square mile (16/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 73.26% White, 23.42% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.12% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. About 4.47% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. In 2020, its population increased to 92,893; the racial and ethnic makeup of the county transitioned to 60.13%
non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...
, 24.85% Black or African American, 0.60% American Indian or Alaska Native, 1.16% Asian alone, 0.7% Pacific Islander, 0.36% some other race or ethnicity, 4.65% multiracial, and 8.18%
Hispanic or Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...
of any race.


Government and politics

Barry Telford Unit The Barry B. Telford Unit (TO) a.k.a. Telford Unit (opened July 1995) is a Texas state prison located in unincorporated Bowie County, Texas. The facility, along Texas State Highway 98, is south of Interstate 30. It has a "New Boston, Texas" mai ...
, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison for men, is in an unincorporated area of the county, near New Boston."Telford TO"
Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Accessed January 8, 2014
Federal Correctional Institution, Texarkana, is a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in unincorporated Bowie County, near Texarkana, Texas. Bowie County is no longer one of the seven
dry counties A dry county is a County (United States), county in the United States whose government forbids the sale of any kind of alcoholic beverages. Some prohibit off-premises sale, some prohibit on-premises sale, and some prohibit both. Dozens of dry c ...
in the state of Texas. Both the city of Nash and the city of Texarkana (on November 6, 2013, and November 5, 2014, respectively) have passed laws that allow the sale of beer and wine.


Politics

Bowie County had voting patterns similar to the Solid South up until 1976. The county has trended steadily towards the GOP with each election in the 21st century. The last Democrat to win this county was Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas, with which the county shares the Texarkana metropolitan area, in both of his national victories.


Education

These school districts serve Bowie County:


Transportation

Major highways present in Bowie County include the following: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


See also

*
Le Poste des Cadodaquious Le Poste des Cadodaquious was a small French fort founded in 1719; it was located northwest of Texarkana, Texas in today's Bowie County. Recent analysis suggests that the site was somewhere on the escarpment near either Everett or Barkman. T ...
, a French fort established in Bowie County in 1719 * National Register of Historic Places listings in Bowie County, Texas * Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Bowie County


References


External links


Bowie County government
*
Bowie County
from the Texas Almanac
Bowie County
from the TXGenWeb Project {{Coord, 33.45, -94.42, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1840 establishments in the Republic of Texas Populated places established in 1840 County in Texarkana metropolitan area