Brown County, Texas

Brown County is a county in West Central Texas. As of 2000, the population was 37,674. Its county seat is Brownwood^[1]. Brown is named for Henry Stevenson Brown, a commander at the Battle of Velasco.

The Brownwood Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Brown County.

History Timeline

• Among first inhabitants were the Penteka. ^[2]

• 1519-1685 Hernando Cortez and Alonso Álvarez de Pineda claim Texas for Spain.

• 1685-1690 France plants its flag on Texas soil, but departs after only five years. ^[3].

• 1721 The Aguayo expedition is said to have passed through the county.

• 1821 Mexico claims its independence from Spain. Anglos from the north settle in Texas and claim Mexican citizenship.

• 1829, September 15 - Mexican President Vicente Ramon Guerrero, himself an ex-slave of Spanish, African and Native American descent, emancipates all slaves within the Republic of Mexico: ^{[4] [5]}

1st - Slavery is abolished in the republic.

2nd - Consequently, those who have been until now considered slaves are free.

3rd - When the circumstances of the treasury may permit, the owners of the slaves will be indemnified in the mode that the laws may provide. And in order that every part of this decree may be fully complied with, let it be printed, published, and circulated.

Given at the Federal Palace of Mexico, the 15th of September, 1829.

Vicente Guerrero To José María Bocanegra

• 1836

March 2 - Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico establishes the Republic of Texas.

March 6 - The Alamo falls.

April 21-22 - Battle of San Jacinto, Antonio López de Santa Anna captured.

May 14 - Santa Anna signs the Treaties of Velasco.

• 1838 Land surveys are made of the area.

• 1845, December 29 -Texas Annexation by the United States

• 1846, May 13 - The United States Congress officially declares war on Mexico.

• 1848, February 2 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ends the Mexican-American War.

• 1856

Mississippi transplant Welcome W. Chandler becomes the first settler, arriving with his family, John H. Fowler, and 7 slaves. They built a log cabin on Pecan Bayou. ^[6]

The county is formed from Comanche and Travis. It is named after pioneer from Kentucky, Henry Stevenson Brown. ^[7]

• 1858 The county is organized. Brownwood is the county seat.

• 1861

February 1 - Texas secedes from the Union

March 2 - Texas joins the Confederate States of America

• 1863, January 1 • The Emancipation Proclamation. ^[8]

• 1865

April 9 • Robert E. Lee formally surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House.

April 15 • President Abraham Lincoln dies of a head wound inflicted by assassin John Wilkes Booth.

June 19 • Major General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston to enforce the emancipation of all slaves. It is the first time African Americans in Texas know of the Emancipation. The date becomes celebrated annually in Texas as Juneteenth, and later as an official state holiday known as Emancipation Day. ^[9]

December 6 • The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits slavery.

• 1870, March 30 - The United States Congress readmits Texas into the Union.

• 1874, May 26 • John Wesley Hardin and gang celebrate his 21st birthday in Brown and Comanche counties. Deputy Charles Webb ^[10] draws his gun provoking a gunfight that ends Webb’s life. A lynch mob is formed, but Hardin and his family are put into protective custody. The mob breaks into the jail and hang his brother Joe and two cousins. Hardin flees. ^[11]

• 1875 The Fort Worth-Brownwood stage is robbed five times in two months.

• 1879 Oil is discovered on the H. M. Barnes farm near Grosvenor.

• 1886 Texas Rangers kill two fence cutters in the ongoing battle between farmers and ranchers over fencing open range.

• 1890

Cotton becomes the county’s important crop.

May 15 - Pulitzer Prize author Katherine Ann Porter is born at Indian Creek. ^[12]

• 1889 Howard Payne College and Daniel Baker College are established in Brownwood.

• 1892 The Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway is built to the county.

• 1895 The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe line built into Brownwood.

• 1903

The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe line extends the line to Menard.

The county votes itself a dry county. Alcohol would not become legal again until the 1950’s.

• 1909 The boll weevil moves into the county, destroying the cotton economy.

• 1917 First commercial production of oil comes from the efforts of Jack Pippen at Brownwood.

• 1919 The first large field begins producing from a depth of 1,100 feet in 1919 near Cross Cut.

• 1926 An oil boom follows the success of the White well on Jim Ned Creek; some 600 wells are drilled in several fields in the county during this time.

• 1938 Lake Brownwood State Park opens to the public. ^[13]

• 1940 Work begins on Camp Bowie .

• 1943 The first German prisoners of war arrive; many are members of Erwin Rommel's Afrika Corps.

• 1953 Howard Payne College and Daniel Baker College combine under the name Howard Payne University.

• 1991 More than 50,561,000 barrels of oil had been taken from Brown County lands since 1917.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 957 square miles (2,478 km²), of which, 944 square miles (2,445 km²) of it is land and 13 square miles (34 km²) of it (1.37%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 67
• U.S. Highway 84
• U.S. Highway 183
• U.S. Highway 377
• State Highway 279

Adjacent counties

• Eastland County (north)
• Comanche County (northeast)
• Mills County (southeast)
• San Saba County (south)
• McCulloch County (southwest)
• Coleman County (west)
• Callahan County (northwest)

Demographics

As of the census^[14] of 2000, there were 37,674 people, 14,306 households, and 10,014 families residing in the county. The population density was 40 people per square mile (15/km²). There were 17,889 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.35% White, 4.01% Black or African American, 0.53% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 6.07% from other races, and 1.66% from two or more races. 15.38% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 14,306 households out of which 31.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.90% were married couples living together, 10.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.00% were non-families. 26.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.80% under the age of 18, 10.10% from 18 to 24, 24.70% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,974, and the median income for a family was $37,725. Males had a median income of $30,169 versus $19,647 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,624. About 14.00% of families and 17.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.70% of those under age 18 and 12.10% of those age 65 or over.

Local media

Brown County is part of the Abilene/Sweetwater/Brownwood Television media market. Local television stations include: KRBC-TV, KTXS-TV, KXVA, KTAB-TV, and KIDU-LP. The area is also served by the Brownwood Bulletin Newspaper.

Cities and towns

• Bangs
• Blanket
• Brookesmith (unincorporated)
• Brownwood
• Cross Cut (unincorporated)
• Early
• Indian Creek (unincorporated)
• Lake Brownwood (unincorporated)
• May (unincorporated)
• Owens (unincorporated)
• Winchell (unincorporated)
• Zephyr (unincorporated)

References

1. ^ . National Association of Counties. . Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. ^ Handbook of Texas, Brown County [1]
3. ^ The Six National Flags of Texas [2]
4. ^ The Magnificent Life of Vicente Ramon Guerrero [3]
5. ^ TAMU Chieftans of Mexican Independence [4]
6. ^ Handbook of Texas, Welcome W. Chandler [5]
7. ^ Handbook of Texas, Henry Stevenson Brown [6]
8. ^ Government documents, Emancipation Proclamation [7]
9. ^ Cinnamon Hearts Juneteenth [8]
10. ^ Brown County Sheriff, Officer Down Memorial [9]
11. ^ Marohn, Richard C. 1995. The Last Gunfighter: John Wesley Hardin. College Station, TX: Creative Publishing Company. p. 320.
12. ^ Texas Escapes, Indian Creek [10]
13. ^ TPWD Lake Brownwood [11]
14. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.

External links

• Brown County, Texas
• Brown County in Handbook of Texas Online at the University of Texas.
• Brownwood News
• Brownwood Bulletin Newspaper

Coordinates: 31°46′N 99°00′W / 31.77°N 99.00°W

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