Randall County, Texas

Randall County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It forms part of the Amarillo metropolitan area. In 2000, its population was 104,312. Its seat is Canyon^[1]. Randall is named for Horace Randal, a Confederate brigadier general killed at the Battle of Jenkins Ferry. The reason the county name differs from his is because the bill creating the county misspelled Randal's name.

At one time, the large JA Ranch, founded by Charles Goodnight and John George Adair, which reached into six counties, held acreage in Randall County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 922 square miles (2,389 km²), of which, 914 square miles (2,368 km²) of it is land and 8 square miles (21 km²) of it (0.87%) is water.

Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States, is located in Randall County.

Major highways

• Interstate 27
• U.S. Highway 60
• U.S. Highway 87
• Loop 335

Adjacent counties

• Potter County (north)
• Armstrong County (east)
• Swisher County (south)
• Castro County (southwest)
• Deaf Smith County (west)

National protected area

• Buffalo Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 104,312 people, 41,240 households, and 28,785 families residing in the county. The population density was 114 people per square mile (44/km²). There were 43,261 housing units at an average density of 47 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.44% White, 1.50% Black or African American, 0.65% Native American, 1.03% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 4.71% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. 10.27% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 41,240 households out of which 33.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.50% were married couples living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.20% were non-families. 25.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the county, the population was spread out with 26.10% under the age of 18, 11.20% from 18 to 24, 28.40% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 11.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 94.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $42,712, and the median income for a family was $52,420. Males had a median income of $36,333 versus $25,358 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,840. About 5.70% of families and 8.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.50% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.

In 2010 Randall County was ranked number 45 on The Daily Caller's list of America's 100 most conservative-friendly counties.^[3]

Presidential elections

Although once more Democratic-leaning, the county has become solidly Republican. The Republican candidate has carried the county in every presidential election since 1952, usually by overwhelming margins.^[4] In the last five elections no Republican candidate has received less than 61% of the county's vote.^[5]

Randall County was one of the more than 200 counties in Texas to cast the majority of its votes for Republican John McCain. McCain received 41,895 votes, which was 81% of the total, while Democrat Barack Obama received 9,461 votes, or 18% of the total, far below his national percentage.

Cities and towns

† The population of Amarillo is about evenly distributed between Potter County and Randall County.

References

1. ^ . National Association of Counties. . Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Geographie Electionale
5. ^ The New York Times electoral map (Zoom in on Texas)

External links

• Randall County government’s website
• Randall County TX Genealogy
• Randall County in Handbook of Texas Online at the University of Texas
• Historic Randall County materials, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.

Coordinates: 34°58′N 101°54′W / 34.97°N 101.90°W

Categories: Texas counties | Randall County, Texas