Kleberg 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 ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 31,040. The

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 Kingsville. The county was organized in 1913 and is named for

Robert J. Kleberg Robert Justus Kleberg (September 10, 1803October 30, 1888), christened Johan Christian Justus Robert Kleberg, was a German Texan from Herstelle, Westphalia, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia. He was a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto and t ...

, an early settler. Kleberg County is part of the Kingsville, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also part of the Corpus Christi- Kingsville-

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

, TX Combined Statistical Area. Most of the county's land lies in the famed

King Ranch King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some it is larger than the area of the European country Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the racehorse Assault (horse), Assault, who won the United States Tri ...

, which also extends into neighboring counties.

History

The county was organized in 1913 and was named for

, an early settler (see below). In 1997, the county commissioners designated "HeavenO" as the county's official greeting because of a

taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

stemming from "Hello"'s perceived connotations of

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

Robert Justus Kleberg

Robert Justus Kleberg Sr. (1803–1888), a Prussian settler, was born on September 10, 1803, in Herstelle, Westphalia. His father was a merchant. Kleberg was educated in the classics and attended the University of Göttingen, where he received a J.D. degree. After graduating he was appointed a justice of assizes. He married Rosalie von Roeder near Paderborn, Prussia, in 1834. They emigrated to Texas that year and settled in Cat Spring in 1836. In 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 ...

, Kleberg was associate commissioner and president of the Board of Land Commissioners (1837–38), justice of the peace (1841), and chief justice of Austin County (1846). In 1847 the Kleberg's moved to Meyersville, where Kleberg was elected county commissioner in 1848 and chief justice in 1853. Kleberg fought in the

battle of San Jacinto The Battle of San Jacinto (), fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day La Porte and Deer Park, Texas, was the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Samuel Houston, the Texan Army engaged and defeated General A ...

in Capt. Moseley Baker's company and subsequently served as one of the Texas guards for Gen. Santa Anna. After the revolution, he volunteered for six months' duty in the Texas army in a campaign against the Indians on Escondido Creek. Kleberg supported the cause of the Confederacy. When the Civil War broke out he raised a company of militia but because of his advanced age was not received into active service. Robert and Rosa raised their own seven children in addition to several young Roeder relatives. Their youngest son, Robert Justus Kleberg Jr. married Alice Gertrudis King. Kleberg died on October 23, 1888, near Cuero and was buried there. His grave is marked by a monument in the form of a soldier's tent with the words "Remember the Alamo" carved at the base. Kleberg County was named in his honor in 1913; a marker at his home site near Cuero was erected in 1936.

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 a total area of , of which is land and (19%) is water. It borders the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

Baffin Bay Baffin Bay (Inuktitut: ''Saknirutiak Imanga''; ; ; ), located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a s ...

makes up a large part of the border with Kenedy County.

Major highways

* Interstate 69E (Under Construction) * U.S. Highway 77 * State Highway 141 * State Highway 285 * Farm to Market Road 771 * Park Road 22

Adjacent counties

* Nueces County (north) * Kenedy County (south) * Brooks County (southwest) * Jim Wells County (west)

National protected area

Padre Island National Seashore Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) is a national seashore administered by the National Park Service, located on Padre Island off the coast of South Texas, USA. In contrast to South Padre Island, Texas, South Padre Island, known for its beach ...

(part)

Demographics

2020 census

2000 Census

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 31,549 people, 10,896 households, and 7,681 families 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 . There were 12,743 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 71.87%

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 ...

, 3.70%

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 ...

, 0.61% Native American, 1.47% Asian, 0.10%

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 ...

, 19.00% from other races, and 3.25% from two or more races. 65.41% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 10,896 households, out of which 34.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.10% 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, 13.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.50% were non-families. 22.30% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.78 and the average family size was 3.30. In the county, the population was spread out, with 27.30% under the age of 18, 15.70% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 19.00% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $29,313, and the median income for a family was $33,055. Males had a median income of $31,179 versus $19,494 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 $13,542. About 21.20% of families and 26.70% 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 35.50% of those under age 18 and 15.60% of those age 65 or over.

Religion

68.1% of the people in Kleberg County are religious: 37.3% are

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 9.8% are

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, 8% are

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 3.3% are Methodists, 2.7% are

Pentecostals Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived ...

, 2.0% are

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

, 0.9% are

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

, 0.7% are

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

, 0.6% are Episcopalians and 2.8% are from another

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith.

Communities

Cities and towns

* Corpus Christi (also in Aransas, Nueces, and San Patricio counties) * Kingsville (county seat)

Census-designated places

* Ricardo *

Riviera () is an Italian word which means , ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria (the Genoa region in northwestern Italy) in the form , then shortened in English. Riviera may a ...

Unincorporated community

* Loyola Beach

Politics

Kleberg 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 José Manuel Lozano, a Republican party politician. Kleberg County has leaned Democratic most of its history but has become more competitive in the 21st century. An indicator of that trend is Lozano, who was originally a Democrat but switched to the Republican party in 2012. Kleberg County Attorney Kira Talip Sanchez was originally elected as a Democrat in 2014 but switched parties in August 2023 and is now a Republican.

Education

School districts in the county include: * Kingsville Independent School District * Ricardo Independent School District * Riviera Independent School District * Santa Gertrudis Independent School District

Coastal Bend College Coastal Bend College (CBC), formerly Bee County College, is a public community college that has its main campus in Beeville, Texas, and branch campuses in Alice, Kingsville, and Pleasanton, Texas. As defined by the Texas Legislature, the offi ...

(formerly Bee County College) is the designated community college for the Kingsville, Ricardo, and Santa Gertrudis school district areas. The Riviera ISD portion is in the Del Mar College-Corpus Christi Junior College District. The legislation calls it "Bee County College".

References

External links

Kleberg County government's website
*
Kleberg County Airport website

{{coord, 27.43, -97.66, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 Kingsville, Texas micropolitan area 1913 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1913 Majority-minority counties in Texas