Colorado 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 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 ...
. As of the
2020 census, its population was 20,557.
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
Columbus.
It is named for the
Colorado River
The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
of Texas. The county was founded in 1836 and organized the next year.
History
The territory that is now Colorado County has been continually inhabited by humans for at least 12,000 years. The Coco branch of the
Karaknawa are said to have hunted in the area, while
Tonkawa crossed the area from the south.
The first record of a European coming through the area that is now Colorado County was January 20, 1687, when
René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, camped along Skull Creek. The party located an Indian village and named it Hebemes. The fourth expedition of Alonso De León may have crossed into the area while looking for Fort St. Louis in 1689.
The area was settled by Anglo colonists who were part of
Stephen F. Austin's
Old Three Hundred starting in 1821. Some families settled near Beeson's Ford, a few miles south of Columbus' present day location. The area was active during the days of the
Texas Revolution.
Dilue Rose Harris wrote her memoir of the
Runaway Scrape from within the boundaries of Colorado County.
The county was one of the original Republic of Texas counties when it formed in 1836.
Following the American Civil War, the county had one of the larger populations of African-American freedmen in the state, and was granted a
Freedmen's Bureau office in Columbus.
Many European settlers, particularly Germans, as well as
Moravians and
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
ns from what became
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, began to settle in the county after the Civil War, although Germans had settled in the area as early as 1830.
Geography
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (1.4%) are covered by water.
Major highways
*
Interstate 10
*
U.S. Highway 90
*
U.S. Highway 90 Alternate
*
State Highway 71
Adjacent counties
*
Austin County (northeast)
*
Wharton County (southeast)
*
Jackson County (south)
*
Lavaca County (southwest)
*
Fayette County (northwest)
National protected area
*
Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge
Demographics
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, 20,390 people, 7,641 households, and 5,402 families were residing 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 . The 9,431 housing units averaged . The
racial makeup of the county was 72.79% White, 14.80% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 10.06% from other races, and 1.78% from two or more races. About 19.74% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.
Of the 7,641 households, 31.1% had children under 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.3% were not families. About 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.56, and the average family size was 3.08.
In the county, the age distribution was 25.6% under 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and % who were 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.40 males.
The
median income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of unde ...
for a household in the county was $32,425, and for a family was $41,388. Males had a median income of $30,063 versus $20,014 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 $16,910. About 12.3% of families and 16.2% 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 21.0% of those under age 18 and 15.80% of those age 65 or over.
Communities
Cities
*
Columbus (county seat)
*
Eagle Lake
*
Weimar
Census-designated place
*
Garwood
*
Glidden
*
Nada
*
Rock Island
*
Sheridan
Unincorporated communities
*
Alleyton
*
Altair
*
Bernardo
*
Borden
*
Chesterville
*
Eldridge
*
Frelsburg
*
Hillcrest
*
Lone Oak
*
Mentz
*
Oakland
*
Shaws Bend
Ghost towns
*
Lakeside
*
Matthews
*
New Bielau
*
Osage
*
Pisek
*
Provident City
*
Ramsey
Politics
Like many southern counties, Colorado County was predominantly Democratic prior to the 1960s and predominantly Republican since then. The last Democrat to carry the state was
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
in 1976;
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
,
Mitt Romney and
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
all received more than 70 percent of the vote in the county.
See also
*
List of museums in East Texas
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Colorado County, Texas
*
Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Colorado County
References
External links
Colorado County government’s websiteColorado County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''at the
University of Texas
Weimar Information and EventsColumbus Information and Events
{{authority control
1837 establishments in the Republic of Texas
Populated places established in 1837