Reeves 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 14,748, and was estimated to be 11,956 in 2024. 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 ...

and most populous city is Pecos. The county was created on April 14, 1883 and organized on November 4, 1884. It is named for George R. Reeves, a Texas state legislator and colonel in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...

. Reeves County comprises the Pecos micropolitan statistical area.

History

Native Americans

Prehistoric

Clovis culture The Clovis culture is an archaeological culture from the Paleoindian period of North America, spanning around 13,050 to 12,750 years Before Present (BP). The type site is Blackwater Draw locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, where stone too ...

peoples in Reeves County lived in the rock shelters and caves nestled near water supplies. These people left behind artifacts and

pictographs A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

as evidence of their presence. Jumano Indians led the

Antonio de Espejo Antonio de Espejo (c. 1540–1585) was a Spanish explorer who led an expedition, accompanied by Diego Perez de Luxan, into what is now New Mexico and Arizona in 1582–83.pg 189 - The expedition created interest in establishing a Spanish col ...

1582–1583 expedition near Toyah Lake on a better route to the farming and trade area of La Junta de los Ríos. Espejo's diary places the Jumano along the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( ; ) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico, at an elev ...

and its tributaries. The Mescalero Apache frequented San Solomon Springs to irrigate their crops. In 1849, John Salmon "RIP" Ford explored the area between

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

and

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, noting in his mapped report the productive land upon which the Mescalero Indians farmed.

County established and growth

The state legislature formed Reeves from Pecos County on April 14, 1883, and named it after Texas legislator and soldier George Robertson Reeves. The county was organized on November 4, 1884. The town of Pecos was named as county seat. Toyah Valley farmers George B. and Robert E. Lyle were the first Anglo settlers 1871. White settlers started arriving in the area four years later, lured by open-range ranching. For the remainder of the century, the county economy was dependent upon farming and ranching as it moved into the manufacturing and oil industries of the 20th century. The Texas and Pacific Railway built through Reeves County in 1881, with stations at Pecos and Toyah. By 1890, the Pecos River Railway had built from Pecos to New Mexico. Toyahvale, which means "flowing water", became the western terminus of the railroad. Balmorhea State Park was built at Toyahvale by the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

. The park was deeded to the State of Texas in 1934 and opened to the public in 1968. Pecos Army Air Field was one of the 120 airbases that trained the pioneer

Women Airforce Service Pilots The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...

to fly military aircraft. At the Pecos installation, WASP flew AT-6, UC-78, and AT-17 aircraft in engineering tests, administrative duties, and transporting freight. The base was activated in 1942 as a World War II pilot school. The base was deactivated in 1945. At its peak, the base population of 4,034 rivaled the town of Pecos in size. Portions of the base were sold off over the years, with Pecos Municipal Airport retaining the remainder. Pecos is the site of the largest private prison in the world, the Reeves County Detention Complex, operated by the

GEO Group The GEO Group, Inc. (GEO) is a publicly traded C corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, that invests in private prisons and mental health facilities in the United States, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. The company ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.25%) is water. It is the 9th largest county in Texas by total area.

Major highways

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

* Interstate 20 * US 285

U.S. Highway 285 * Texas 17

State Highway 17

Adjacent counties

Eddy County, New Mexico Eddy County is a List of counties in New Mexico, county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 62,314. Its county seat and largest city is Carlsbad, New Mexico, Carlsbad. T ...

(north/

Mountain Time Zone The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The ...

) * Loving County (northeast) * Ward County (east) * Pecos County (southeast) * Jeff Davis County (south) * Culberson County (west)

Demographics

As of the third quarter of 2024, the median home value in Reeves County was $117,940. As of the 2023

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, there are 4,145 estimated households in Reeves County with an average of 2.94 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $56,056. Approximately 17.6% of the county's population lives at or 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 ...

. Reeves County has an estimated 58.1% employment rate, with 6.9% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 71.3% holding a high school diploma. The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (38.5%), Spanish (61.3%), Indo-European (0.0%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.2%), and Other (0.0%). The median age in the county was 34.4 years. Reeves County, Texas – racial and ethnic composition

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 14,748 people, 4,178 households, and 2,895 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 5,068 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 54.74%

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 ...

, 1.97%

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 ...

, 0.68% Native American, 1.15% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 16.48% from some other races and 24.96% from two or more races. .

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 13,783 people, 3,839 households, and _ families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 4,640 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 77.23%

, 5.01%

, 0.46% Native American, 0.86% Asian, 0.04%

, 14.85% from some other races and 1.54% from two or more races. .

Communities

Cities

* Balmorhea * Pecos (county seat)

Towns

* Toyah

Census-designated places

* Lindsay

Unincorporated communities

* Saragosa * Toyahvale

Ghost town

* Orla

Politics

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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 ...

not only flipped Reeves County, but he won the greatest margin of victory for a Republican presidential candidate since

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

re-election at 61.1%. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, Trump expanded his vote share, winning 68% of the vote. As a result, Reeves County shifted to the right from

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

to 2024 by 53 percentage points, representing one of the strongest such rightward shifts for any county in the country.

Education

Two school districts serve sections of the county: * Balmorhea Independent School District * Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent School District All of the county is in the service area of Odessa College.Texas Education Code, Section 130.193, "Odessa College District Service Area".
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