Smith County, Texas

Smith County
	Smith County, Texas
	The Smith County Courthouse in Tyler.
	; Seal
	; Seal
	; Location in the state of Texas
	; Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	July, 1846
Seat	Tyler
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 949 sq mi (2,458 km²); 928 sq mi (2,404 km²); 21 sq mi (54 km²), 2.22%
Population; - (2010); - Density	; 209,714; 209/sq mi (80.8/km²)
Website	www.smith-county.com

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Smith County veterans display, the Wall of Memories, in the Tyler plaza

Confederate States of America memorial in Tyler plaza

Korean War Memorial in Tyler plaza

Smith County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 209,714.^[1] Its county seat is Tyler^[2]. Smith county is named for James Smith, a general during the Texas Revolution. Several cities have passed propositions to sell liquor, beer, and wine within city limits.

Smith County is part of the Tyler Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Tyler–Jacksonville Combined Statistical Area. The county is represented in the Texas House of Representatives by Leo Berman (R) of Tyler. Its U.S. representative is Louie Gohmert(R), and the Texas Senate by Senator Kevin Eltife (R).

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 949 square miles (2,459 km²), of which 928 square miles (2,404 km²) is land and 21 square miles (55 km²) (2.22%) is water. The county infrastructure includes some 1,180 miles (1,900 km) of two lane county road.

[edit] Historical

The Smith County Historical Society, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, was founded in 1959 by individuals and business firms dedicated to discovering, collecting and preserving data, records and other items relating to the history of Smith County, Texas. The Society operates a museum and archives, which is located in the former Carnegie Public Library building in downtown Tyler. Permanent museum exhibits include life-size dioramas with Smith County history topics ranging from Caddo Indians to the Twentieth Century. Other items from the Society's collections are showcased in revolving, temporary exhibits. The Society's archival library contains historical artifacts of Smith County, including newspapers, city directories, school records, photographs, maps, historical papers, rare books and much more. The archives are open to the public for research on a limited schedule with volunteer staff on duty. The Society is also the official caretaker of Camp Ford Historic Park.

Camp Ford was the largest Confederate Prisoner of War Camp west of the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. The original site of the Camp stockade is now a public historic park, owned by Smith County, Texas, and managed by the Smith County Historical Society. The park contains a kiosk, paved trail, interpretive signage, a cabin reconstruction, and a picnic area. It is located on Highway 271, 0.8 miles north of Loop 323.

[edit] Major highways

Loop 323

[edit] Smith County Road & Bridge

Smith County Road & Bridge Department is a department of Smith County, Texas and is under the jurisdiction of the Smith County Commissioners Court. Since 1948, The citizens of Smith County have directed by popular vote, that all road and bridge maintenance and construction be under the "Unit System" as prescribed by the Texas State Transportation Code. Under the Unit System, a County Engineer, or Road Administrator is designated to direct maintenance and construction for the county as a whole without regard to individual commissioners' precincts to provide the most beneficial outcome for the taxpayers of Smith County.

The county infrastructure includes some 1180 miles of two lane county road. 70% of these county roads were rated as "bad" and "poor" in 2004. The county Commissioners Court appointed a new County Engineer in 2005 and an aggressive reconstruction campaign was initiated to improve the infrastructure under the "Road Recovery Plan". 70% of county roads are surfaced with hot oil sand (HOSA), 15% hot mix asphalt, approx. 13% dirt, and less than 2% concrete. The "Road Recovery Plan" initiated under Judge Becky Dempsey, which sought to reconstruct 750 miles of county roads in a 6 year time frame, was discontinued in 2007.

[edit] Adjacent counties

Wood County (north)
Upshur County (northeast)
Gregg County (east)
Rusk County (southeast)
Cherokee County (south)
Henderson County (southwest)
Van Zandt County (northwest)

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1850	4,292	—
1860	13,392	212.0%
1870	16,532	23.4%
1880	21,863	32.2%
1890	28,324	29.6%
1900	37,370	31.9%
1910	41,746	11.7%
1920	46,769	12.0%
1930	53,123	13.6%
1940	69,090	30.1%
1950	74,701	8.1%
1960	86,350	15.6%
1970	97,096	12.4%
1980	128,366	32.2%
1990	151,309	17.9%
2000	174,706	15.5%
2010	209,714	20.0%
U.S. Decennial Census^[3] Texas Almanac: 1850-2010^[4]

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 174,706 people, 65,692 households, and 46,904 families residing in the county. The population density was 188 people per square mile (73/km²). There were 71,701 housing units at an average density of 77 per square mile (30/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 71.61% White, 20.06% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 5.74% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. 11.17% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 65,692 households out of which 33.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were married couples living together, 12.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.60% were non-families. 24.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the county, the population was spread out with 26.60% under the age of 18, 9.80% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 22.10% from 45 to 64, and 14.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 92.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,148, and the median income for a family was $44,534. Males had a median income of $32,451 versus $22,351 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,072. About 10.20% of families and 13.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.40% of those under age 18 and 10.80% of those age 65 or over.

The county has been unable to house approximately 30% of its growing inmate population since 2000 in its own facilities and spends approximately 10% of its annual budget (estimated to be $62 Million in 2007) for housing prisoners in out of county facilities. However, this figure should be adjusted for the fact that the county currently spends $35.00 per day housing prisoners in its own facility, and $40.00 for housing them in other counties.

[edit] 2008 and 2004 Presidential election results

Smith County was one of the 226 counties in Texas to cast the majority of its votes for Republican John McCain. McCain won 69% of the vote and 55,187 votes. Democrat Barack Obama won 30% of the vote and 23,726 votes. Other candidates won 648 votes and 1% of the vote. In 2004, Republican George W. Bush did better than McCain and received 72% of the vote and 53,392 votes to Democrat John Kerry's 27% of the vote and 19,970 votes. Other candidates received 1% of the vote.^[6] The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry the county was Harry Truman.^[7]