Starr County, Texas

Starr County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 53,597. Its county seat is Rio Grande City^[1]. The county is named for James Harper Starr, who served as Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic of Texas. It is part of the Rio Grande City-Roma, TX, Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,229 square miles (3,184 km²), of which 1,223 square miles (3,168 km²) are land and 6 square miles (16 km²) (0.51%) are water.

Major Highways

• U.S. Highway 83

Adjacent counties and municipios

• Jim Hogg County (north)
• Brooks County (northeast)
• Hidalgo County (east)
• Zapata County (west)
• Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico (south)
• Guerrero, Tamaulipas, Mexico (southwest)
• Ciudad Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas, Mexico (south)
• Ciudad Mier, Tamaulipas, Mexico (southwest)
• Ciudad Miguel Alemán, Tamaulipas, Mexico (southwest)

National protected area

• Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge (part)

History

The founder of Starr County was Matias Longoria, who was awarded a land grant from the king of Spain.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 53,597 people, 14,410 households, and 12,666 families residing in the county. The population density was 44 people per square mile (17/km²). There were 17,589 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile (6/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.92% White, 0.15% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 9.91% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races.

97.54% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. According to the Census Bureau, Starr County had the highest percentage of Hispanic residents of any county in the United States^[3].

There were 14,410 households out of which 54.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.50% were married couples living together, 17.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.10% were non-families. 11.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.69 and the average family size was 4.01.

In the county, the population was spread out with 37.40% under the age of 18, 11.00% from 18 to 24, 27.10% from 25 to 44, 16.30% from 45 to 64, and 8.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females there were 94.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $16,504, and the median income for a family was $17,556. Males had a median income of $17,398 versus $13,533 for females. The per capita income for the county was $7,069, which is the third-lowest in the United States. About 47.40% of families and 50.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 59.40% of those under age 18 and 43.30% of those age 65 or over.

Law Enforcement

In the 1970s and into the 1980s, federal law enforcement officials concentrated their anti-drug smuggling efforts on Starr County.^[4]

On May 1, 2009, the former sheriff of Starr County, Reymundo Guerra, pled guilty in Federal court to a narcotics conspiracy charge. ^[5]

Presidential Elections

Starr County has long been a strongly Democratic county but suffers from low voter turnout with only approximately 20% of its 53,000 residents voting. No Republican has won the county in over a century^[6] and the county favored Michael Dukakis by the highest percentage in the nation.^[7] Starr County is among a handful of counties in Texas that gave the majority of their votes to Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. John Kerry received 7,199 votes which was 74% of the votes while George W. Bush received 2,552 votes which was 26% of the votes. In 2008, Illinois Senator Barack Obama did a lot better than Kerry in Starr County, receiving 8,233 votes, which was 84% of the vote. Arizona Senator Republican John McCain received 1,488 votes, which was 15% of the vote.

Communities

Cities

• Escobares
• La Grulla
• Rio Grande City
• Roma

Census-designated places

Other communities

• Delmita
• La Gloria
• La Reforma
• Santa Catarina
• Santa Elena

Education

Residents of eastern Starr County are zoned to schools in the Rio Grande City Consolidated Independent School District. Immaculate Conception School, located in Rio Grande City and founded in 1884, is the only Catholic school in Starr County and provides a faith-based pre-K through eighth-grade education to approximately 250 students each year.

Residents of western Starr County are zoned to schools in the Roma Independent School District.

Residents of northeastern Starr County are zoned to schools in the San Isidro Independent School District.

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. ^ Census Bureau data, cited in "Minorities now in the majority in nearly 10% of U.S. counties", Associated Press August 8, 2007, Lexington Herald-Leader p A8
4. ^ Miller, Tom. On the Border: Portraits of America’s Southwestern Frontier, pp. 27-34.
5. ^ http://www.poligazette.com/2009/05/22/a-counterintelligence-approach-to-controlling-cartel-corruption/
6. ^ Geographie Electorale
7. ^ David Leip's Presidential Atlas (1988 election statistics)

External links

• Starr County Government
• Starr County in Handbook of Texas Online at the University of Texas
• Starr County TX Genweb

Coordinates: 26°34′N 98°44′W / 26.57°N 98.73°W

Categories: Texas counties | Starr County, Texas | United States counties with Hispanic majority populations