Baylor 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 ...

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 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,465. 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 ...

is Seymour.

History

In 1858, 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 ...

established Baylor County, naming it for Henry Weidner Baylor, a surgeon in the Texas Rangers during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

. It organized in 1879.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (3.7%) are covered by water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 82 * US 183

U.S. Highway 183 * US 277

U.S. Highway 277 * US 283

U.S. Highway 283 * Texas 114

State Highway 114

Adjacent counties

* Wilbarger County (north) * Wichita County (northeast) * Archer County (east) * Young County (southeast) * Throckmorton County (south) * Haskell County (southwest) * Knox County (west) * Foard County (northwest)

Geology

Baylor County is part of the Texas Red Beds, which are

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...

of red-colored sedimentary rock from the

Early Permian 01 or 01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * '01 (Richard Müller album), ''01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * 01 (Urban Zakapa album), ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''01011 ...

. The fossils of Permian period vertebrates in the Texas Red Beds were first discovered by

Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontology, paleontologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist, herpetology, herpetologist, and ichthyology, ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker fam ...

in 1877. Subsequent research has revealed rare fossils of Permian amphibians like Trimerorhachis, as well as rich deposits of other Permian

tetrapod A tetrapod (; from Ancient Greek :wiktionary:τετρα-#Ancient Greek, τετρα- ''(tetra-)'' 'four' and :wiktionary:πούς#Ancient Greek, πούς ''(poús)'' 'foot') is any four-Limb (anatomy), limbed vertebrate animal of the clade Tetr ...

s such as

Dimetrodon ''Dimetrodon'' ( or ; ) is an extinct genus of sphenacodontid synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian) Epoch (geology), epoch of the Permian period, around 295–272 million years ago. With most species measuring long and ...

and Diadectes. ''Seymouria baylorensis'', a species of '' Seymouria'', was first discovered and named after Baylor County and the city of Seymour.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, 4,093 people, 1,791 households, and 1,156 families resided in the county. The population density was . The 2,820 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 90.96% White, 3.35% Black or African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 3.32% from other races and 1.15% from two or more races; 9.33% were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 1,791 households, 25.2% had children under the age of 18 residing in them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were not families. In addition, 33.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.86. In the county, the population was distributed as 23.4% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 21.4% from 25 to 44, 25.6% from 45 to 64, and 24.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $24,627, and for a family was $34,583. Males had a median income of $21,607 versus $19,571 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,384. About 16.1% of the population and 12.9% of families were below the poverty line, and 26.3% of those under the age of 18 and 9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Educational attainment

According to the 2000 census, 21.2% of those aged over 25 did not have a high school diploma, while 32.7% did. Roughly 8.7% of the population had a bachelor's degree, 2.3% had a master's degree, and 0.2% had a doctoral degree. No males had doctoral degrees, while 0.4% of females had one.

Education

Almost all of Baylor County is served by the Seymour Independent School District, which also serves portions of adjacent counties. A small portion is served by the

Olney Independent School District Olney Independent School District is a school district headquartered in Olney, Texas, Olney, Texas (United States, USA). The district serves portions of Young County, Texas, Young County (including the city of Olney), Archer County, Texas, Arch ...

. The OISD portion was served by the Megargel Independent School District, until MISD closed after May 2006. The county is in the service area of

Vernon College Vernon College is a public community college in Vernon, Texas. History The two-year Vernon Regional Junior College welcomed its first student body of 608 in 1972, and had a board of trustees of seven members. In 1970, the Wilbarger County voter ...

.Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.207. VERNON REGIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA

Communities

City

* Seymour (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

* Bomarton * Mabelle * Red Springs * Round Timber * Westover

Politics

Baylor County is represented in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

by Republican James Frank, a businessman from Wichita Falls.

References

External links

*
Baylor County
from the Texas Almanac
Baylor County
from the TXGenWeb Project
Baylor County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties

Baylor County Website
{{Coord, 33.63, -99.22, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1879 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1879