Deaf Smith County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located 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 sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,583. 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 ...

is Hereford, which is known as the "Beef Capital of the World". The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1890. The Hereford, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Deaf Smith County.

History

In 1876, the state legislature defined and named the county, but it was not organized until 1890, with the town of La Plata as the original county seat. The county was named for Erastus "Deaf" Smith (1787–1837), a partially deaf scout and soldier who served in the Texas Revolution, and was the first to reach the Alamo after its fall in 1836. The pronunciation of "Deaf", as used by Smith himself, is ; however, most residents pronounce it . Image:Deaf Smith in museum in Hereford IMG 4856.JPG,

Deaf Smith Erastus "Deaf" Smith (April 19, 1787 – November 30, 1837), who earned his nickname due to hearing loss in childhood, was an American frontiersman noted for his part in the Texas Revolution and the Army of the Republic of Texas. He fought i ...

as he appears at the Deaf Smith County Museum Image:Deaf Smith County Museum IMG 4854.JPG, The Deaf Smith County Historical Museum in Hereford Image:Deaf Smith County Library, Hereford, TX IMG 4892.JPG, The Deaf Smith County Library formerly housed the

National Cowgirl Hall of Fame The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an educ ...

on the ground floor. The museum is now located in a new building in the Historic District of Fort Worth.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.1%) are covered by water.

Major highways

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

* U.S. Highway 60 * U.S. Highway 385 * State Highway 214

Adjacent counties

* Oldham County (north) * Potter County (northeast) * Randall County (east) * Castro County (southeast) * Parmer County (south) *

Curry County, New Mexico Curry County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, its population was 48,376. Its county seat is Clovis. The county is named in honor of George Curry, territorial governor of New Mexico from 1907 to 1910 ...

(southwest/

Mountain Time Zone The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The ...

) *

Quay County, New Mexico Quay County () is a county in the state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,041. Its county seat is Tucumcari. The county was named for Pennsylvania senator Matthew Quay, who supported statehood for New Mexico. Its east ...

(west/

)

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.'' As of the

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 in ...

of 2000, 18,561 people, 6,180 households, and 4,832 families resided in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 12 people/sq mi (5/km²). The 6,914 housing units averaged 5,sq mi (2/km²). The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the county was 72.28% White, 1.51% African American, 0.80% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 22.92% from other races, and 2.11% from two or more races. About 57.40% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 6,180 households, 41.00% had children under 18 living with them, 61.00% were married couples living together, 12.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.80% were not families. Around 19.70% of all households was made up of individuals, and 10.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.41. In the county, the age distribution was 33.30% under 18, 9.60% from 18 to 24, 25.50% from 25 to 44, 19.40% from 45 to 64, and 12.10% who were 65 or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.90 males. The median income for a household was $29,601, and for a family was $32,391. Males had a median income of $26,090 versus $19,113 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $13,119. About 19.30% of families and 20.60% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 26.30% of those under age 18 and 15.70% of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure

The headquarters of the

Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a non-profit rural electric utility cooperative headquartered in Hereford, Texas. The cooperative was organized in 1936 and is a member of the Golden Spread Electric Cooperative. The cooperative is named for ...

are located in Hereford. The cooperative provides electricity for Deaf Smith, as well as Castro, Parmer, and Oldham Counties.

Communities

City

* Hereford (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...

* Glenrio (partly in

), Bredmansburg

Politics

Deaf Smith County was the most Hispanic county or equivalent to vote for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

in the 2016 presidential election.

Education

School districts: * Adrian Independent School District * Friona Independent School District * Hereford Independent School District * Vega Independent School District * Walcott Independent School District * Wildorado Independent School District All of the county is in the service area of

Amarillo College Amarillo College (AC) is a public community college in Amarillo, Texas. It enrolls over 10,000 students and was established in 1929 as Amarillo Junior College. Amarillo College has a total of six campuses as of October 2005. As defined by the ...

.Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.164. AMARILLO COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.

References

External links

Deaf Smith County government website''A History of Deaf Smith County, featuring Pioneer Families''
published 1964 by Bessie Smith, hosted by th
Portal to Texas History''The Land and Its People, 1876-1981: Deaf Smith County Texas''
published 1982 by the Deaf Smith County Historical society, hosted by th
Portal to Texas HistoryHistoric photographs from the Deaf Smith County Library
hosted by th
Portal to Texas HistoryDeaf Smith County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Deaf Smith County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties
{{coord, 34.97, -102.60, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1890 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1890 Texas Panhandle Majority-minority counties in Texas