Austin County, Texas

The Austin County is a county located in the state of Texas in the United States. The seat of the county government ( county seat ) is located in Bellville, named after Thomas B. Bell, one of the early settlers in Texas.

Geography

The County is located in southeast Texas, in the Houston - Sugar Land - Baytown Metropolitan Area and has an area of 1700 square kilometers, of which 10 square kilometers are water surface. It is bordered clockwise to the following counties: Waller County, Fort Bend County, Wharton County, Colorado County, Fayette County and Washington County.

Traffic

Austin County has a very good transport links. State Highway 36 is the main north- south route, while the State Highway 159, U.S. Highway 90 and Interstate 10 run in east-west direction. In addition, the County is approached by three railway companies: the Southern Pacific, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Within a radius of 30 km there are also three regional airports.

History

Austin County was formed in 1836 as an original county. It was named after Stephen Fuller Austin, who brought the Anglo-American colonization in motion, also known as the father of Texas.

Moses Austin, father of Stephen A., 1821, received from the Mexican government for permission to establish a colony and to bring 300 families to Texas. Before he could put his plan into action, he died of pneumonia, and his son continued the project. The land to be allocated size was determined as follows: 640 acres for the head of the family, 320 acres for his wife, 160 acres for each child and 80 acres for each slave. 1831 settled the first German emigrants and built in 1844, the Hermann's University. The German settlement of Cat Spring, formerly Cat source, was founded in 1834. 1845 another German settlement called Millheim was founded in 1850 and the settlement of New Ulm, named after the place of origin of the settlers. Also the place Bleiblerville was founded by a German, the dealer Robert Bleibler.

At the beginning of the 20th century, watermelon was cultivated in addition to cattle and grain farming. 1924 were sold in the northern U.S. 1,450 railway wagons melons. The first oil was discovered in 1915 and promoted to a significant extent from 1927.

Demographic data

According to the census in 2000 lived in Austin County 23 590 people in 8747 households and 6,481 families. The population density was 14 people per square kilometer. The racial the population was made up of 80.22 percent White, 10.64 percent Black or African American, 0.28 percent Native American, 0.29 percent Asian, and 6.99 percent from other races; 1.58 percent were descended from two or more races. 16.13 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 8,747 households out of which 34.7 per cent of children or young people who lived with them. 60.6 percent were married couples living together, 9.6 percent were single mothers and 25.9 percent were non-families. 22.8 percent of all households and 11.5 percent lived in people aged 65 years or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.14 persons.

27.0 percent of the population was under 18 years old, 8.1 percent between 18 to 24, 26.4 percent between 25 and 44, 23.7 percent between 45 and 64 and 14.8 percent were 65 years of age or older. The average age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males to 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males.

The median income for a household was $ 38,615, and the median income for a family was $ 46,342. Males have a median income of $ 32,455, women $ 22,142. The per capita income was $ 18,140. 8.8 percent of families and 12.1 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.

Places in County

Bellview
Bellville
Bellvue
Bernardo
Bleiblerville
Buckhorn
Burleigh
Cat Spring
Cochran
Frydek
Kenney
Millheim
Nelsonville
New Ulm
Peters
Raccoon Bend
San Felipe
Sealy
Wallis
Welcome

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