Buchel County was a former
Texas county. Its area is now completely contained in the present
Brewster County.
History
On March 15, 1887, the Texas legislature passed legislation that divided Presidio County into four counties:
Presidio,
Jeff Davis,
Foley and Buchel.
Named after German soldier and war hero
Augustus Buchel
Augustus Carl Buchel (October 8, 1813 – April 15, 1864) was a German-born military officer who served in several national armies during the 1800s. During the American Civil War, he served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army.
Born in ...
, the county occupied the northeast corner of what is now
Brewster County including the town of
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
which was to serve as the
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 ...
. The 1890
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
reported 298 residents in Buchel County, the majority of whom lived in Marathon. In 1889, it and neighboring Foley County were attached to the original Brewster County for surveying purposes, and in 1897 both counties were abolished and absorbed by Brewster County.
Attempts to Reestablish
During the first decades of the twentieth century, some Texans tried to reorganize the county. As early as 1909, one newspaper reported that "A movement is on foot to re-establish Buchel county and make Marathon the county seat."
In 1915, a bill submitted to the 34th Texas Legislature (SB 187) sought to establish Buchel County from territory in Brewster County. Reports suggested that the bill was supported by representatives and there was little expected opposition,
however no final version of the text was published as law, suggesting that the bill was never passed.
Geography
The Texas state law that created the new county laid out the following boundaries:
Buchel County is bounded as follows, to-wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of Brewster County on the Presidio and Pecos County line; thence south with the east line of Brewster County sixty miles; thence east to the Rio Grande River; thence down said river with its meanders to the Pecos County line; thence in a northwesterly direction among said Pecos County line to the place of the beginning.
;Adjacent Counties
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Brewster County (west)
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Pecos County
Pecos County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 15,193. The county seat is Fort Stockton. The county was created in 1871 and organized in 1875.. By Glenn Justice and John Leffler. Retriev ...
(east)
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Foley County (south)
References
External links
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{{authority control
Former counties of Texas
Geography of Brewster County, Texas
Geography of Presidio County, Texas
1887 establishments in Texas