Andrews County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

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 so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It is in

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...

and its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Andrews Andrews may refer to: Places Australia *Andrews, Queensland *Andrews, South Australia United States *Andrews, Florida (disambiguation), various places *Andrews, Indiana *Andrews, Nebraska *Andrews, North Carolina *Andrews, Oregon *Andrews, South ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,610. The Andrews Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Andrews County. Andrews county was created August 21, 1876, from Tom Green County and organized in 1910. It is named for Richard Andrews, a soldier of the

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

History

Along with the rest of Texas, Andrews County was: * Part of the Viceroyalty of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

from August 18, 1521 * Part of an independent

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

from September 27, 1821 * Part of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

from March 2, 1836 * Part of a state of the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

from December 29, 1845 * Part of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

from March 4, 1861 * Part of a state mandated to rejoin the Union of The United States of America on June 19, 1865, following the surrender of General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia of the Confederate States of America at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, that effectively ended the Civil War. * Part of a state governed by provisional governors during nine years of reconstruction because of the state's insurrection during the Civil War. * Part of a state whose people were allowed to vote on a new constitution and fully rejoin the Union of the United States of America, with elected representation in the U.S. Congress, by an act of President U.S.Grant, March 30, 1870. In 1876, the

Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a p ...

repealed the constitution of 1869 replacing it with the current constitution and established Andrews County.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has an area of , of which essentially all is land although (0.02%) are water. The county contains many

playa lake A dry lake bed, also known as a playa (), is a basin or Depression (geology), depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceed recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered b ...

s, the two largest being Baird lake and Shafter Lake. In the west part of Andrews County on the border with New Mexico (see the state border issue below), a private company, Waste Control Specialists (WCS), formerly owned by the late Harold Simmons and headquartered in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, operates a site. The company was awarded a license to dispose of

radioactive waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

by the TCEQ in 2009. The permit allows for disposal of radioactive materials such as uranium, plutonium and thorium from commercial power plants, academic institutions and medical schools. The company finished construction on the project in 2011 and began disposing of waste in 2012. There are two radioactive waste landfills at the site. The 30-acre compact site is owned and regulated by the State of Texas for use by Texas, Vermont, and up to 36 other states. The 90-acre federal site is owned by the United States federal government and is used for Department of Energy and other federal waste. The company employs 130 people or about 1% of the total labor force in Andrews and Andrews County. For years, there has been a simmering dispute over which state these waste sites are lawfully a part of: Texas or New Mexico? The straight north–south border between the two states was originally defined as the 103rd meridian, but the 1859 survey that was supposed to mark that boundary mistakenly set the border between 2.29 and 3.77 miles too far west of that line, making the Waste Control Specialists waste sites, which are west of the 103rd meridian, along with the current towns of Farwell, Texline, and part of Glenrio, appear to be within the

State of Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. New Mexico's short border with Oklahoma, in contrast, was surveyed on the correct meridian. New Mexico's draft constitution in 1910 stated that the border is on the 103rd meridian as intended. The disputed strip, hundreds of miles long, includes parts of valuable oilfields of the Permian Basin. A bill was passed in the

New Mexico Senate The New Mexico State Senate () is the upper house of the New Mexico State Legislature. The Senate consists of 42 members, with each senator representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the state. All senatorial distr ...

to fund and file a lawsuit in the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

to recover the strip from Texas, but the bill did not become law. Today, land in the strip is included in Texas land surveys and the waste sites for all purposes are taxed and governed by Andrews County and The State of Texas.

Major highways

* * * * * * * * *

Adjacent counties

* Gaines County (north) * Martin County (east) * Midland County (southeast) * Ector County (south) * Winkler County (southwest) * Lea County, New Mexico (west/

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 ...

)

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 14,786 people living in the county. 79.5% were

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.5% Black or African American, 1.0% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 15.5% of some other race and 2.0% of two or more races. 48.7% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 13,004 people, 4,601 households, and 3,519 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

was . There were 5,400 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 77.08%

, 1.65%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.88% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 16.79% from other races, and 2.87% from two or more races. 40.00% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 4,601 households, out of which 40.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.70% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.50% were non-families. 21.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.29. In the county, the population was spread out, with 31.50% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 20.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $34,036, and the median income for a family was $37,017. Males had a median income of $33,223 versus $21,846 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $15,916. About 13.90% of families and 16.40% 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 ...

, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 12.70% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Education

The Andrews Independent School District serves all of Andrews County. The whole county is in the service area of Odessa College.Texas Education Code, Section 130.193, "Odessa College District Service Area".
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Media

The county is served by a weekly newspaper, local stations KACT AM and KACT-FM, nearby stations KBXJ (FM) and KPET (AM), and the various Midland and Odessa radio and TV stations.

Communities

City

(county seat)

Census-designated place

* McKinney Acres

Unincorporated communities

* Florey * Frankel City

Ghost towns

* Coyote Corner * Fasken * Old Place Windmills * Shafter Lake * Sixteen Corner Windmill * Waldon Place Windmill

References

External links

Andrews County government website
*
Andrews County
from the Texas Almanac * from the TXGenWeb Project
Andrews County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties
{{coord, 32.30, -102.64, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1910 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1910 Majority-minority counties in Texas