Brazoria County, Texas

Brazoria County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas located on the Gulf Coast within the Houston•Sugar Land•Baytown metropolitan area. Its county seat is Angleton, and its largest city is Pearland. The county also includes what was once Velasco, Texas, which was the first capital of the Republic of Texas. It served as the first settlement area for Anglo-Texas, whereby the Old Three Hundred immigrated from the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 241,767. The 2007 Census estimate placed the county's population at 294,233.

History

Brazoria County, like nearby Brazos County, takes its name from the Brazos River, which flows through it. Anglo-Texas began in Brazoria County when the first of Stephen F. Austin's authorized 300 American settlers arrived at the mouth of the Brazos River in 1821. Many of the events leading to the Texas Revolution developed in Brazoria County. In 1832, Brazoria was organized as a separate municipal district by the Mexican government, and so became one of Texas original counties at independence in 1836. Stephen F. Austin's original burial place is located at a church cemetery Gulf Prairie Cemetery in the town of Jones Creek, but was exhumed in 1910 and brought to the state capital in Austin. Also, the town of West Columbia served as the first capital of Texas, dating back to pre-revolutionary days.

Congressman and 2008 Presidential Candidate Ron Paul lives in Brazoria County, in Lake Jackson.

Brazoria County resembles both rural and suburban life as it is part of the Greater Houston area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,597 square miles (4,137 km²), of which, 1,386 square miles (3,591 km²) of it is land and 211 square miles (547 km²) of it (13.21%) is water.

Major highways

• State Highway 6
• State Highway 35
• State Highway 36
• State Highway 288

Adjacent counties

• Harris County (north)
• Galveston County (northeast)
• Matagorda County (southwest)
• Wharton County (west)
• Fort Bend County (northwest)

National protected areas

• Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge
• San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 241,767 people, 81,954 households, and 63,104 families residing in the county. The population density was 174 people per square mile (67/km²). There were 90,628 housing units at an average density of 65 per square mile (25/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 77.09% White, 8.50% Black or African American, 0.53% Native American, 2.00% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 9.63% from other races, and 2.22% from two or more races. 22.78% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 12.1% were of German, 11.2% American and 7.2% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 79.0% spoke English and 18.1% Spanish as their first language.

There were 81,955 households out of which 40.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.20% were married couples living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.00% were non-families. 19.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.60% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 32.40% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 8.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 106.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $48,632, and the median income for a family was $55,282. Males had a median income of $42,193 versus $27,728 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,021. About 8.10% of families and 10.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.60% of those under age 18 and 8.70% of those age 65 or over.

In 2010 Brazoria County was ranked number 52 on The Daily Caller's list of America's 100 most conservative-friendly counties.^[2]

Government and infrastructure

County representation

The Brazoria County Jail is located at 3602 County Road 45 in unincorporated central Brazoria County, north of Angleton.^[3]

State representation

Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates six prisons for men and its Region III office in unincorporated Brazoria County.^[4] As of 2007 there were 1,495 full-time correctional job positions in the county.^[5] In 2003 there were a total of 2,572 employees at the six TDCJ facilities.^[6]

• Clemens Unit,^[7] near Brazoria^[8]
• Darrington Unit, near Rosharon - The Windham School District Region III office is within the unit.^[9]
• Wayne Scott Unit, near Angleton.^[6][10]

The following three are co-located and are near Rosharon:^[8]

• Ramsey Unit - The unit is co-located with Stringellow and Terrell. The TDCJ Region III Maintenance Headquarters is within this unit.^[11]
• Stringfellow Unit, near Rosharon - The unit is co-located with Ramsey and Terrell.^[12] The unit was originally named Ramsey II Prison Unit.^[13]
• C. T. Terrell Unit - The unit is co-located with Ramsey and Stringfellow.^[14] It was originally known as the Ramsey III Unit.^[15]

In 2007 TDCJ officials said that discussions to move the Central Unit from Sugar Land to Brazoria County were preliminary.^[5]

Elected officials

United States Congress

Texas Legislature

Texas Senate

Texas House of Representatives

NOTE: There was a runoff to be held in January, 2007 between two Republicans to determine the representative for the seat in House District 29.

Communities

Cities

Towns

• Holiday Lakes
• Quintana

Villages

• Bailey's Prairie
• Bonney
• Hillcrest
• Iowa Colony
• Jones Creek

Unincorporated areas

CDPs

• Damon
• Wild Peach Village

Other areas

• Amsterdam
• Chocolate Bayou
• Danciger
• East Columbia
• English
• Old Ocean
• Otey
• Rosharon
• Silverlake
• Turtle Cove

Education

A variety of school districts serve Brazoria County students. They include:

• Alvin ISD
• Angleton ISD
• Brazosport ISD
• Columbia-Brazoria ISD
• Danbury ISD
• Damon ISD (K-8)
• Pearland ISD
• Sweeny ISD

Alvin Community College and Brazosport College serve as higher education facilities.

The Brazoria County Library System has branches in Alvin, Angleton, Brazoria, Clute, Danbury, Freeport, Lake Jackson, Manvel, Pearland, Sweeny and West Columbia, and runs the Brazoria County Historical Museum.

Transportation

Brazoria County Airport in central unincorporated Brazoria County is the county's sole publicly-owned airport.

The following airports, located in the county, are privately-owned and for public use:

• Flyin' B Airport in western unincorporated Brazoria County
• Skyway Manor Airport in Pearland
• Pearland Regional Airport in eastern unincorporated Brazoria County south of the Pearland city limits

The closest airport with regularly scheduled commercial service is Houston's William P. Hobby Airport located in Houston in adjacent Harris County. The closest airport with regularly scheduled international commercial service is George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston in Harris County.

References

1. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. ^ Palko, Chris (March 19, 2010). "America’s top 20 conservative-friendly counties". The Daily Caller. http://dailycaller.com/2010/03/19/americas-top-20-conservative-friendly-counties/2/. Retrieved 19 March 2010
3. ^ "Sheriff's Office." Brazoria County. Accessed September 13, 2008.
4. ^ "Region III Director's Office." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 8, 2010.
5. ^ ^{a b} Lowman, John. "Talk of prison move preliminary." Brazosport Facts. Wednesday June 6, 2007. Retrieved on May 9, 2010.
6. ^ ^{a b} Isensee, Bridie. "TDCJ makes overtime changes." Brazosport Facts. Wednesday August 13, 2003. Retrieved on May 9, 2010.
7. ^ "CLEMENS (CN)." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Accessed September 12, 2008.
8. ^ ^{a b} Staff and Wire Reports. "Parts of Houston join evacuation." Houston Chronicle. September 21, 2005. Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
9. ^ "DARRINGTON (DA)." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Accessed September 12, 2008.
10. ^ "SCOTT (RV)." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Accessed September 12, 2008.
11. ^ "RAMSEY (R1)." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Accessed September 12, 2008.
12. ^ "STRINGFELLOW (R2)." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Accessed September 12, 2008.
13. ^ Tompkins, John. "Ramsey unit renamed." The Facts. November 10, 2006. Retrieved on December 7, 2009.
14. ^ "C. T. TERRELL (R3)." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Accessed September 12, 2008.
15. ^ Timms, Ed. "Uneasy about death row, Terrell wants name off unit Prison expected to be renamed." The Dallas Morning News. July 14, 2001. Retrieved on May 9, 2010. "Another prison the Ramsey III unit in Brazoria County probably will be renamed for Mr Terrell"

External links

• Brazoria County government's website
• Brazoria County Day Website
• Brazoria County Museum Website
• Brazoria County FireFighters Association
• Brazoria County, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Historic materials about Brazoria County, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
• Alvin Youth Bowling Program
• Brazoria County Parks Department's website

Coordinates: 29°10′N 95°26′W / 29.17°N 95.44°W

Categories: Texas counties | Brazoria County, Texas | Greater Houston OnloadHook();