Terrell County, Texas

Terrell County, Texas
Location in the state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1905
Seat	Sanderson
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	2,358 sq mi (6,107 km²) 2,358 sq mi (6,107 km²) 0 sq mi (0 km²), 0%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	984 0.46/sq mi (0/km²)
Website	www.co.terrell.tx.us

Terrell County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 984. Its county seat is Sanderson. The county was named for Alexander W. Terrell, a Texas state senator. It is the setting for Cormac McCarthy's novel No Country for Old Men, and the Academy Award winning film adaptation of the same name.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,358 square miles (6,110 km²), virtually all of which is land.

Major highways

See also: List of highways in Terrell County, Texas

• U.S. Highway 90
• U.S. Highway 285
• State Highway 349

Adjacent counties and municipios

• Pecos County (north & west)
• Crockett County (northeast)
• Val Verde County (east)
• Brewster County (southwest)
• Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico (south)

National protected area

• Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River (part)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1910	1,430		—
1920	1,595		11.5%
1930	2,660		66.8%
1940	2,952		11.0%
1950	3,189		8.0%
1960	2,600		−18.5%
1970	1,940		−25.4%
1980	1,595		−17.8%
1990	1,410		−11.6%
2000	1,081		−23.3%
2010	984		−9.0%
U.S. Decennial Census Texas Almanac: 1850-2010

As of the census of 2010, there were 984 people, 443 households, and 295 families residing in the county. The population density was less than 1/km² (1/sq mi). There were 991 housing units at an average density of 0 per square mile (0/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 88.34% White, 1.67% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 8.33% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. 48.57% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 443 households out of which 29.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.40% were married couples living together, 7.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.40% were non-families. 31.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.09.

In the county, the population was spread out with 26.50% under the age of 18, 5.00% from 18 to 24, 23.40% from 25 to 44, 27.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 103.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $24,219, and the median income for a family was $28,906. Males had a median income of $21,429 versus $15,804 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,721. About 21.20% of families and 25.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.40% of those under age 18 and 31.10% of those age 65 or over.

History

Native Americans

Evidence of the indigenous peoples of Terrell County are found on the county’s various ranches – arrowheads, tools, burned-rock middens, caves and shelters containing Indian pictographs. Pieces of reed sandals, baskets, and evidence of burials have been found in the caves. The most pictographs are on cliff walls above Myers Spring near Dryden, overpainting giving to the theory that several Indian cultures were involved.

Early Explorations

Capt. José de Berroterán in 1729 commanded an expedition on behalf of Spain to explore from Mission San Juan Bautista up the Rio Grande to the mouth of the Rio Conchos. Berroterán crossed the southern border, where at a spring near Dryden, legend has it that he placed a large wooden cross. Six years later another Spaniard, Blas María de la Garza Falcón, found the cross while conducting an expedition in the area and named the spot Santa Cruz de Maya. Captain Samuel Highsmith, under the command of John Coffee Hays, crossed the county in 1848 in an ill-fated expedition to open a road from San Antonio to El Paso. In 1851 Army officer and geographer Lt. Nathaniel Michler, working under Major William H. Emory, mapped this portion of the boundary between Mexico and the United States. Under Lt. William Echols in 1859, caravans of the U.S. Camel Corps crossed the county searching for a shorter route to Fort Davis.

County Established and Growth

In 1905, Terrell County was created by the Texas Legislature by carving about 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km²) out of Pecos County. It was organized the same year. Sanderson became the County Seat. In 1881, Texas and New Orleans Railroad surveyors reached the site of present day Sanderson. Originally named Strawbridge by founder Cyrus W. “Charley” Wilson, the name was later changed in honor of railroad Engineer Joseph P. Sanderson. Charles Downie, a Scot, homesteaded in 1881 and became the first permanent sheepman in the area. Together, the railroad, cattle and sheep industries were the major economic assets. Ranges were still unfenced. Dryden became a large shipping point for cattle ranchers. Terrell County became one of the biggest sheep and wool producers in the U.S. In 1926, eleven thousand lambs averaging $6 per head were sold in one of the largest lamb sales in history. Thousands of pounds of wool and mohair were sold annually through the Sanderson Wool Commission. Dryden, the only town besides Sanderson in the county, was also started in 1882, but is now a ghost town. Judge Roy Bean is said to have operated a saloon at Sanderson. The oil and gas industry became increasingly important to Terrell County's economy after 1957, when the Brown-Bassett gas field was discovered in the northeast part of the county. Only gas was produced until the 1970s, when high petroleum prices encouraged limited oil production as well. Sanderson was struck by a flood on June 11, 1965, in which twenty-eight people died. Two of them were never found. The Texas State Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1, 76th Legislature, Regular Session (1999) declared Sanderson and Terrell County the "Cactus Capital of Texas."

Communities

There are no incorporated communities in Terrell County.

• Sanderson
• Dryden - Dryden, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Terrell County, Texas
• USS Terrell County (LST-1157)

External links

• Terrell County government’s website
• Terrell County from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Entry for Alexander Watkins Terrell from the Biographical Encyclopedia of Texas published 1880, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.