Taylor 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 143,208. 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 Abilene. The county was created in 1858 and later organized in 1878. It is named for

Edward Taylor Edward Taylor (1642 – June 29, 1729) was a colonial American poet, pastor and physician of English origin. His work remained unpublished for some 200 years but since then has established him as one of the foremost writers of his time. His p ...

, George Taylor, and

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

, three brothers who died at the

Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a siege of the Alamo, 13-day siege, Mexico, Mexican troops under president of Mexico, President Antonio L� ...

. Taylor County is included in the Abilene, TX metropolitan statistical area, and is considered part 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 ...

History

Among first inhabitants of the area were the Penteka. In 1849, Capt. Randolph Marcy, a U. S. Army engineer, passed through, scouting out West Texas-to-California routes. The Texas legislature established Taylor County in 1858 from Bexar and Travis Counties. The county is named for Alamo defenders Edward, James, and George Taylor. The

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service in ...

established the Mountain Pass Station at Merkel; it was in continual use until 1861. By 1872, the first cattlemen had ventured into present Taylor County. Six years later, Taylor County was organized. Buffalo Gap was named county seat. In 1880, the Texas & Pacific Railroad signed an agreement to run tracks through the future city of Abilene. Abilene was established in 1882, and named after

Abilene, Kansas Abilene (pronounced ) is a city in and the county seat of Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,460. It is home of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Libra ...

. Abilene became the county seat in 1883. A wagon train of 10

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 ...

families arrived in the county that year. The Abilene Board of Trade was organized in 1890, when 587 farms and ranches were in the county. The next year, Hardin-Simmons University was established as Abilene Baptist College by the Sweetwater Baptist Association. Lytle Lake was created in 1897. The State Epileptic Colony opened in Abilene in 1904. In 1906,

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

opened its doors as Childers Classical Institute. In the 1920s, Hendricks Medical Center opened in Abilene as West Texas Baptist Sanitarium (1924) and the West Texas Historical Association was chartered in Abilene. The first senior class of

McMurry University McMurry University is a Private university, private United Methodist Church, Methodist university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1923 and named after William Fletcher McMurry. The university offers forty-five majors in the ...

graduated (1926). Oil was discovered in the county a few years later (1929). In 1933, Abilene donated land for use 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 ...

. Dyess Air Force Base was established as Abilene AFB in 1942; it is named in honor of Texas native and

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March was the Death march, forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 72,000 to 78,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POWs) from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp ...

survivor Lieutenant Colonel William Dyess. The Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra was created, with Jay Dietzer as the first conductor, in 1950. The Buffalo Gap Historic Village opened in 1956.

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 are land and (0.4%) are covered by water.

Major highways

* Interstate 20 * Interstate 20 Business * U.S. Highway 83 * U.S. Highway 84 * U.S. Highway 277 * State Highway 36 * State Highway 153 * State Highway 351 * Texas Loop 322

Loop 322

Adjacent counties

* Jones County (north) * Shackelford County (northeast) * Callahan County (east) * Coleman County (southeast) * Runnels County (south) * Nolan County (west) * Fisher County (northwest)

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, 126,555 people, 47,274 households, and 32,524 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 52,056 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the county was 80.61% White, 6.73% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 1.25% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 8.35% from other races, and 2.42% from two or more races. About 17.64% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 47,274 households, 34.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.80% were married couples living together, 11.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.20% were not families. About 25.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.07. In the county, the age distribution was as 26.60% under 18, 13.80% from 18 to 24, 27.80% from 25 to 44, 19.30% from 45 to 64, and 12.40% who were 65 or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $34,035, and for a family was $40,859. Males had a median income of $28,964 versus $21,021 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 $17,176. About 10.40% of families and 14.50% 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 17.60% of those under age 18 and 9.20% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Abilene (county seat) (small part in Jones County) * Tuscola * Tye * Merkel

Towns

* Buffalo Gap *

Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a large force or mechanical shock over a short period of time * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...

Lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

* Trent

Census-designated place

* Potosi

Unincorporated communities

Caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

* Hamby * Ovalo * View * Wylie

Military base

* Dyess AFB

Politics

Taylor County is part of the 71st district for elections to 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 ...

Education

School districts include: * Abilene Independent School District * Blackwell Consolidated Independent School District * Clyde Consolidated Independent School District * Eula Independent School District * Jim Ned Consolidated Independent School District * Merkel Independent School District * Trent Independent School District * Winters Independent School District * Wylie Independent School District The

Texas Legislature The Texas State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a p ...

designated the county as being in the Cisco Junior College District.

References

External links

Taylor County Official Site

Central Appraisal District of Taylor County
*