Randall 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 140,753. 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 ...

Canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1889. It is named for Horace Randal, a Confederate brigadier general killed at the Battle of Jenkins Ferry. The reason the county name differs from his is because the bill creating the county misspelled Randal's name. Randall County, alongside adjacent Potter County is part of the Amarillo metropolitan statistical area. At one time, the large JA Ranch, founded by Charles Goodnight and John George Adair, which reached into six counties, held acreage in Randall County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (1.2%) are covered by water. Palo Duro Canyon, the second-largest canyon in the United States, is located in Randall County.

Major highways

* Interstate 27 * U.S. Highway 60 * U.S. Highway 87 * State Highway 217 * Loop 335

Adjacent counties

* Potter County (north) * Oldham County (northwest) * Armstrong County (east) * Carson County (northeast) * Swisher County (south) * Briscoe County (southeast) * Castro County (southwest) * Deaf Smith County (west)

National protected area

* Buffalo Lake 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, 104,312 people, 41,240 households, and 28,785 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 43,261 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 90.44% White, 1.50% Black or African American, 0.65% Native American, 1.03% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 4.71% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. About 10.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 41,240 households, 33.90% had children under 18 living with them, 57.50% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.20% were not families; 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49, and the average family size was 3.00. In the county, the age distribution was 26.1% under 18, 11.2% from 18 to 24, 28.4% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 11.90% who were 65 or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.70 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 91.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $42,712, and for a family was $52,420. Males had a median income of $36,333 versus $25,358 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 $21,840. About 5.70% of families and 8.10% 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 8.50% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Although once more Democratic-leaning, the county has become solidly Republican. The Republican candidate has carried the county in every presidential election since 1952, usually by overwhelming margins. In the last thirteen elections, no Republican candidate has received less than 61% of the county's vote, and since 2000, Randall has been the nation's most Republican "metropolitan" county outside of predominantly Mormon counties in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. Randall County was one of the more than 200 counties in Texas to cast the majority of its votes for Republican John McCain. McCain received 41,895 votes, which was 81% of the total, while Democrat Barack Obama received 9,461 votes, or 18% of the total, far below his national percentage.

Communities

Cities

* Amarillo (partly in Potter County) *

(county seat)

Towns

* Happy (mostly in Swisher County)

Villages

* Lake Tanglewood * Palisades * Timbercreek Canyon

Census-designated place

* Rockwell Place * Umbarger

Unincorporated communities

* Ogg * Zita

Ghost towns

* Cita

Education

School districts include: * Amarillo Independent School District * Bushland Independent School District * Canyon Independent School District * Happy Independent School District * Wildorado Independent School District All of the county is in the service area of Amarillo College.Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.164. AMARILLO COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.

References

External links

Randall County government’s website

Randall County TX Genealogy

Randall County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

Historic Randall County materials
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History.
* http://www.city-data.com/county/Randall_County-TX.html
Randall County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties
* List of museums in the Texas Panhandle * National Register of Historic Places listings in Randall County, Texas
Texas State Historical Association , Randall County (tshaonline.org)
{{authority control 1889 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1889 Texas Panhandle