Tom Green County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 120,003. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is San Angelo. The county was created in 1874 and organized the following year. It is named for Thomas Green, who was a Confederate soldier and lawyer. Tom Green County is included in the San Angelo

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

; the county is home to

Goodfellow Air Force Base Goodfellow Air Force Base is a nonflying United States Air Force base located in San Angelo, Texas, United States. As part of Air Education and Training Command, Goodfellow's main mission is cryptologic and intelligence training for the Air Fo ...

, as well as Angelo State University, part of the Texas Tech University System.

History

The county was established by the state legislature on March 13, 1874, and named after Thomas Green, a Confederate

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

. It originally comprised an area over . The original county seat was the town of

Ben Ficklin Benjamin Franklin Ficklin (1827–1871) was a soldier, adventurer, and entrepreneur known for his help in starting the Pony Express and for establishing other stage coach and mail routes in the United States during the nineteenth century. Ficklin w ...

. In 1882, flood waters of the Concho River destroyed the town and drowned 65 people. The county seat was moved to Santa Angela. In 1883, the town's name was officially changed to San Angelo by the

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

. Following completion of the

Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...

in September 1888, the county has increase its cattle production to an estimated export of 3,500 to 5,000

railroad cars A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck ( British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is ...

. In 1889, San Angelo became incorporated to a city, and the

Fort Concho Fort Concho is a former United States Army installation and National Historic Landmark District located in San Angelo, Texas. It was established in November 1867 at the confluence of the North and South Concho Rivers, on the routes of the Butt ...

shut down after 22 years of operation. Tom Green County has a long, narrow strip of land extending to the west. This unusual feature is because

Reagan County Reagan County is a county on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,385. The county seat is Big Lake. The county is named after John Henninger Reagan (1818-1905), who was the postmaster ge ...

to the west used to be part of Tom Green County, and the state of Texas required that all counties have a contiguous land route to their county seat. Therefore, the small strip of land served to connect the two main regions. In 1903, the residents of the western section voted to form the Reagan County, while in the same vote the connecting strip was decided to remain as part of Tom Green County. During the Winter Storm Uri, San Angelo City endured 152 hours at or below freezing temperatures. Some of the hurricanes and tropical storms that have hit Tom Green includes: * * Hurricane Matagorda (1942) * Tropical Storm Delia (1973) * Hurricane Gilbert (1988) * Tropical Storm Erin (2007) * Tropical Storm Hermine (2010)

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (1.2%) are covered by water. The county's protect areas are Lake Nasworthy,

O.C. Fisher Reservoir O.C. Fisher Reservoir (also known as O.C. Fisher Lake, formerly known as San Angelo Lake) is an artificial lake located west of the city of San Angelo, Texas. With the financial support of the Upper Colorado River Authority, construction on the d ...

, Twin Buttes Reservoir,

San Angelo State Park San Angelo State Park is a Texas state park in San Angelo, Texas in the United States. It encompasses leased by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. It opened in 1995 and is located on the shores of ...

and Heart of Texas Wildlife Trail. Tom Green County also have the Concho Rivers, North Concho River, South Concho River; and a small creek named

Kickapoo Creek Kickapoo Creek is a stream in Schleicher, Tom Green and Concho counties in west central Texas. It is a tributary of the Concho River The Concho River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. ''Concho'' is Spanish for "shell"; the river was s ...

as well.

Adjacent counties

* Coke County (north) * Runnels County (northeast) * Concho County (east) * Menard County (southeast) *

Schleicher County Schleicher County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,451. Its county seat is Eldorado. The county was created in 1887 and organized in 1901. It is named for Gusta ...

(south) * Irion County (west) *

(west) * Sterling County (northwest)

Demographics

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, 104,010 people, 39,503 households, and 26,783 families resided in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

was 68 people/sq mi (26/km²). The 43,916 housing units averaged 29/ sq mi (11/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 50.76% White, 5.13% African American, 0.65% Native American, 0.86% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 12.82% from other races, and 2.39% from two or more races. About 30.71% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race, 13.2% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, 10.7% American, 8.2% English, and 7.2% Irish ancestry according to

Census 2000 The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 c ...

. Of the 39,503 households, 33.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.10% were married couples living together, 11.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.20% were not families. About 27.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.52, and the average family size was 3.09. In the county, the age distribution was 26.10% under 18, 12.80% from 18 to 24, 27.10% from 25 to 44, 20.60% from 45 to 64, and 13.40% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $33,148, and for a family was $39,482. Males had a median income of $27,949 versus $20,683 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $17,325. About 11.20% of families and 15.20% 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 20.20% of those under age 18 and 11.80% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Colleges

* Angelo State University * Howard College

Public school districts

* Christoval Independent School District * Grape Creek Independent School District *

Miles Independent School District Miles Independent School District is a public school district based in Miles, Texas (USA). Located in Runnels County, a portion of the district extends into Tom Green County. Miles ISD has two campuses – Miles High (Grades 7-12) and Miles Ele ...

* San Angelo Independent School District * Veribest Independent School District * Wall Independent School District * Water Valley Independent School District

Transportation

Major highways

U.S. Highway 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues so ...

* U.S. Highway 87 *

U.S. Highway 277 U.S. Route 277 (US 277, US-277) is a north–south United States Highway that is a spur route of U.S. Route 77. It runs for 633 miles (1,019 km) across Oklahoma and Texas. US 277's northern terminus is in Newcastle, Oklahoma at Inter ...

* *

SH Loop 306

Communities

San Angelo September 2019 13 (Texas Theatre)

City

* San Angelo (county seat)

Census-designated places

Carlsbad Carlsbad may refer to: *Carlsbad, California, United States *Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States *Carlsbad, Texas, United States *Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa ...

* Christoval * Grape Creek

Unincorporated communities

* Harriett * Knickerbocker * Mereta * Tankersley * Vancourt * Veribest *

Wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the su ...

* Water Valley

Ghost town

Military base

Politics

Notable resident

* August Pfluger is an American politician and retired military officer, and he is the U.S. representative for Texas's 11th congressional district.

References

External links

Tom Green County government's website

Tom Green 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. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

County genealogy links
at Rootsweb
Entry for Tom Green
from th
''Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas''
published 1880, hosted by th
Portal to Texas History.

San Angelo LIVE!
News, live events and music in San Angelo, the county seat of Tom Green County {{coord, 31.41, -100.46, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1875 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1875