Lamb 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 13,045. 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 Littlefield. The county was created in 1876, but not organized until 1908. It is named for George A. Lamb, who died 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 ...

. Lamb County was the home of the Texas House Speaker Bill W. Clayton, who served from 1975 until 1983. It is also the birthplace of country music singer

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

History

Lamb County was formed in 1876 from portions of Bexar County. It was named after George A. Lamb, a soldier in the Battle of San Jacinto. In the 1960s, the

water table The water table is the upper surface of the phreatic zone or zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with groundwater, which may be fresh, saline, or brackish, depending on the loc ...

began to decline. From the 1980s until 2023, the population declined by about 33%. Between circa 2013 and 2023, the population declined by about 8%.
Alternate link
at

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During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Lamb County had an almost 1/100 death rate as of March 2023. As of that month, Lamb County, among American counties with 2,500 or more residents, had the eighth highest

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

death rate. By 2023, there was

water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity. One is ''physical.'' The other is ''economic water scarcity''. Physic ...

among farms, and many younger people moved to other counties for jobs.

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 (0.2%) are covered by water.

Adjacent counties

* Castro County (north) * Hale County (east) * Hockley County (south) * Bailey County (west) * Parmer County (northwest) * Lubbock County (southeast) * Cochran County (southwest)

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, 14,709 people, 5,360 households, and 3,991 families resided 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 6,294 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 76.1% White, 4.3% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.1% Asian, less than 0.05% Pacific Islander, 16.9% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. About 43.5% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 5,360 households, 35.4% had children under 18 living with them, 59.5% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were not families. About 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.19. In the county, the population was distributed as 29.6% under 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,898, and for a family was $31,833. Males had a median income of $36,434 versus $30,342 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 $30,169. About 18.0% of families and 10.9% 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 27.3% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 70 * U.S. Highway 84 * U.S. Highway 385

Airports

Littlefield Municipal Airport is located in Lamb County, west of the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

of Littlefield, Texas.

Communities

Cities

* Amherst *

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

* Littlefield (county seat) *

Olton Olton is an area/suburban village within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands, England. In the 13th century, the Lords of the Manor moved their seat and formed a new settlement, at the junction of tw ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Town

* Springlake

Census-designated place

Spade A spade is a tool primarily for digging consisting of a long handle and blade, typically with the blade narrower and flatter than the common shovel. Early spades were made of riven wood or of animal bones (often shoulder blades). After the a ...

Unincorporated community

* Fieldton

Education

School districts serving the county include: * Amherst Independent School District * Anton Independent School District * Littlefield Independent School District * Muleshoe Independent School District * Olton Independent School District * Springlake-Earth Independent School District * Sudan Independent School District * Whiteface Consolidated Independent School District The county is in the service area of

South Plains College South Plains College (SPC) is a public community college in Levelland, Texas. It also has five locations in Plainview, at the Reese Technology Center (formerly Reese Air Force Base), in western Lubbock, the Lubbock Downtown Center and th ...

Media

, there is one newspaper, '' Lamb County Leader-News'', with three employees. An additional employee had died of COVID-19 in 2022, and the newspaper did not hire another individual. The '' Olton Enterprise'', another newspaper, stopped publication in 2021. In 2023, Alejandro de la Garza wrote, in regards to the media landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic as the pandemic had caused damage to local media outlets, "for many residents, their

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

feeds took the place of local media."

Gallery

World's tallest windmill, Littlefield, TX IMG 4779.JPG, Littlefield claims the world's tallest windmill. Lamb County Library, Littlefield, TX IMG 4772.JPG, Lamb County Library in downtown Littlefield across from the First

Baptist 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 ...

Church Lamb County, TX Leader News IMG 4783.JPG, ''Lamb County Leader-News'' in Littlefield Lamb County Veterans Memorial Texas.jpg, Lamb County Veterans Memorial Littlefield grain elevator, Littlefield, TX IMG 4765.JPG, Littlefield Farmers Co-op grain elevator

Politics

In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, about 80% of the county's residents selected

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 ...

Healthcare

In August 22, 43% of the county's residents had completed at least one COVID-19 vaccination series.

References

External links

*
Lamb County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties
{{coord, 34.07, -102.35, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1908 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1908 Majority-minority counties in Texas