Victoria 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 91,319. 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 also named

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Victoria County is included in the Victoria metropolitan statistical area, and comprises the entirety of the Victoria

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

in Texas.

History

Through colonial times

Paleo-Indian Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...

hunter-gatherers A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, especially w ...

, and later

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe from Oklahoma and Texas. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct language, extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Tonkawa ...

, Aranamas, Tamiques, and

Karankawa The Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, largely in the lower Colorado River and Brazos River valleys."Karankawa." In ''Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures,'' edited by Joh ...

, inhabited the area before the time of European contact.

Tawakoni The Tawakoni (also Tahuacano and Tehuacana) are a Southern Plains Native American tribe, closely related to the Wichitas. They historically spoke a Wichita language of the Caddoan language family. Currently, they are enrolled in the Wichita ...

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan languages, Southern Athabaskan Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people, who have lived in the Oasisamerica, Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European ...

, and

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

were later inhabitants of modern-day Victoria County. In 1685,

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (; November 22, 1643 – March 19, 1687), was a 17th-century French explorer and North American fur trade, fur trader in North America. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada ...

established Fort St. Louis. In 1689, Alonso de Leon named the Guadalupe River in honor of

Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe (), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (), is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle, Juan Bernardino reported in December 1531, when t ...

. In 1722, Nuestra Señora de Loreto Presidio and Mission Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga became the first Spanish settlement in Victoria County. In 1824, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Jesús Victoria (the future city of

) was established by

Martín De León Martín De León (1765–1833) was a rancher and wealthy Mexican empresario in Texas who was descended from Spanish aristocracy. He was the patriarch of one of the prominent founding families of early Texas. De León and his wife Patricia de l ...

, who started his colony with 5,000 branded cattle and established the county's claim as the "Cradle of the Texas Cattle Industry." It was the only primarily Mexican colony in Texas. In 1835, Victoria's settlers supported the revolution against

Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. often known as Santa Anna, wa ...

, but were ostracized by new incoming Americans, many of whom were adventurous soldiers or fortune hunters, who wrongly profiled them as Mexican sympathizers and forced them to flee after the revolution in 1836. Anglo-Americans resettled the area. In 1836, Victory County was formed by the Republic of Texas. It is named after

Guadalupe Victoria Guadalupe Victoria (; 29 September 178621 March 1843), born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican general and politician who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence and afte ...

, the first

President of Mexico The president of Mexico (), officially the president of the United Mexican States (), is the head of state and head of government of Mexico. Under the Constitution of Mexico, the president heads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

. About 3000 troops of the Texas Army encamped near Spring Creek, Victoria County, under the command of Gen. Thomas J. Rusk, as the main defense against a threatened attack by Mexican General

José de Urrea José Cosme de Urrea y Elías González (full name) or simply José de Urrea (March 19, 1797 – August 1, 1849) was a Mexican general. He fought under General Antonio López de Santa Anna during the Texas Revolution. Urrea's forces were never d ...

. In 1842, Rafael Vásquez and

Adrián Woll Adrián Woll (December 2, 1795 – February 1875) was a French Mexican general in the army of Mexico during the Texas Revolution and the military conflict between Mexico and the Republic of Texas which followed. Woll was governor of Tamaulipas ...

led Mexican forces in an invasion into the county.

After the Revolution through the Civil War

In 1850, Coletoville was established by German immigrant Carl Steiner. The next year, Victoria County's first toll bridge was erected across the river, built by Richard Owens and Sylvester Sutton. As of 1860, 1,413 slaves were in the county. In 1861m county residents voted 318–88 in favor of

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

from the Union. Victoria County sent 300 men to fight for the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

. Confederate General John B. Magruder destroyed the railroad from Port Lavaca to Victoria in 1863 to keep it out of Union hands. He also sank trees and boats into the Guadalupe River. From 1867-1869, the county was occupied by federal troops. Mob violence by those same troops resulted in the axing death and corpse mutilation of local official Benjamin F. Hill, who at the time was incarcerated for an alleged self-defense killing of a discharged Union soldier. The Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific Railway connect Victoria with Cuero and the coast in 1873. The New York, Texas and Mexican Railway provided the first cross-country route to Rosenberg Junction in

Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded on December 29, 1837, and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in ...

in 1882. That next year, the Texas Continental Meat Company was erected in the county and was the largest meat packing plant in Texas. Bray's Ferry was established in 1886 at the San Antonio River by G. B. Amery and John Bray. Twenty years later, the Guadalupe River Navigation Company was established. By 1930, when oil was discovered at the McFaddin Oil Field, Victoria County held more cattle than any other county in Texas.

Foster Air Force Base Foster Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force facility in Victoria County, Texas, United States, approximately east-northeast of the city of Victoria. Active from 1941 to 1945 and from 1952 to 1959, it was a flying training air ...

was established as Victoria Army Air Field as a training air field in 1941. The Victoria Barge Canal was completed in 1967, connecting Victoria County with the

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a Navigability, inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, the ...

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, 91,319 people, 32,520 households, and 22,172 families resided in the county. 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, 84,088 people, 30,071 households, and 22,192 families lived 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 32,945 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 74.22% White, 6.30% Black or African American, 0.53% Native American, 0.77% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 15.92% from other races, and 2.22% from two or more races. About 39.20% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race; 16.2% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 6.2%

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, and 5.6%

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

ancestry according to Census 2000, and 73.3% spoke

and 25.5%

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

as their first language. Uf the 30,071 households, 37.2% had children under 18 living with them, 56.7% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were not families. Around 22.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.23. In the county, the age distribution was 29.1% under 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 91.7 males. The median income for a household in the county was $38,732, and for a family was $44,443. Males had a median income of $35,484 versus $21,231 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 $18,379. About 10.50% of families and 12.90% 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 17.20% of those under 18 and 11.70% of those 65 or over.

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 (0.8%) are covered by water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 59 **

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of eight unconnected segments. The longest segment runs from Evansville, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and includ ...

is currently under construction and will follow the current route of U.S. 59 in most places northeast of Victoria. **

Interstate 69W Interstate 69W (I-69W) is a relatively short north–south Interstate Highway running through South Texas in the United States. The freeway begins northeast of the middle of the World Trade International Bridge in Laredo, Texas, Laredo and ...

is currently under construction and will follow the current route of U.S. 59 in most places southwest of Victoria. * U.S. Highway 77 **

Interstate 69E Interstate 69E (I-69E) is a north–south Interstate Highway running through South Texas. Once complete, the freeway will begin in Brownsville and head northward before terminating near Victoria as both I-69W and I-69E merge into I-69 t ...

is currently under construction and will follow the current route of U.S. 77 in most places southwest of Victoria. * U.S. Highway 87 * Farm to Market Road 444 *

Farm to Market Road 616 A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

* Farm to Market Road 622

Adjacent counties

* Lavaca County (north) * Jackson County (northeast) * Calhoun County (southeast) * Refugio County (south) *

Goliad County Goliad County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population is 7,012. Its county seat is Goliad, Texas, Goliad. The county is named for Father Miguel ...

(southwest) * DeWitt County (northwest)

Politics

County government

Victoria County elected officials

Communities

City

(county seat)

Census-designated places

* Bloomington *

Inez Inez is a feminine given name. It is the English spelling of the Spanish and Portuguese name Inés/Inês/Inez, the forms of the given name " Agnes". The name is pronounced as , , or Agnes is a woman's given name, which derives from the Greek w ...

* Placedo * Quail Creek

Unincorporated communities

* McFaddin * Moursund * Nursery * Telferner

Education

School districts include: * Bloomington Independent School District * Industrial Independent School District * Meyersville Independent School District * Nursery Independent School District *

Refugio Independent School District Refugio Independent School District is a public school district based in Refugio, Texas, Refugio, Texas (United States, USA). Located in Refugio County, Texas, Refugio County, a small portion of the district extends into Bee County, Texas, Bee ...

Victoria Independent School District Victoria Independent School District is a public school district based in Victoria, Texas, United States. VISD serves the city of Victoria, the Quail Creek census-designated place, portions of the Inez CDP, Text list/ref> and the unincorporat ...

All of the county is in the service area of Victoria College.Texas Education Code Sec. 130.208. THE VICTORIA COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.
/ref> University of Houston-Victoria is in Victoria.

References

External links

Victoria County government's website

''Victoria Economic Development Corporation'' economic development
*
"Victoria County Profile" from the Texas Association of Counties

{{coord, 28.80, -96.97, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1836 establishments in the Republic of Texas Populated places established in 1836 Victoria, Texas metropolitan area