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| Brazoria County, Texas | |
 Location in the state of Texas | |
 Texas's location in the U.S. | |
| Founded | 1836 |
|---|---|
| Seat | Angleton |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
1,597 sq mi (4,136 km²) 1,386 sq mi (3,590 km²) 211 sq mi (546 km²), 13.21% |
| Population - (2020) - Density |
372,031 174/sq mi (67/km²) |
| Website | www.brazoria-county.com |
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. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 372,031.
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 was located at a church cemetery (Gulf Prairie Presbyterian) in the town of Jones Creek, but was more recently exhumed 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.
Brazoria County constitutes the southern tip of the Cancer Coast, so named by doctors at the Texas Medical Center in Houston and members of the local media.
Brazoria County resembles both rural and suburban life as it is part of the Greater Houston area.
Brazoria County in recent years is seeing a surge in urban sprawl in the past two decades.
Geography[]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,137 km² (1,597 sq mi). 3,591 km² (1,386 sq mi) of it is land and 547 km² (211 sq mi) of it (13.21%) is water.
Major Highways[]
Adjacent counties[]
- Harris County (north)
- Galveston County (northeast)
- Matagorda County (southwest)
- Wharton County (west)
- Fort Bend County (northwest)
Demographics[]
As of the census² of 2000, there were 241,767 people, 81,954 households, and 63,104 families residing in the county. The population density was 67/km² (174/sq mi). There were 90,628 housing units at an average density of 25/km² (65/sq mi). 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.
There were 81,954 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.
Government and politics[]
County representation[]
The Brazoria County Jail is located at 3602 County Road 45 in unincorporated central Brazoria County, north of Angleton.[1]
State representation[]
Clemens Unit, one of several prisons in Brazoria County
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates six state prisons for men and its Region III office in unincorporated Brazoria County.[2] As of 2007,1,495 full-time correctional job positions were in the county.[3] In 1995, of the counties in Texas, Brazoria had the second-highest number of state prisons and jails, after Walker County.[4] In 2003, a total of 2,572 employees were employed at the six TDCJ facilities.[5] The TDCJ units are:
- Clemens Unit,[6] nearBrazoria[7]
- Darrington Unit, near Rosharon - The Windham School District Region III office is within the unit.[8]
- Wayne Scott Unit, near Angleton.[5][9]
(The following 3 are co-located in Otey,[10] near Rosharon.[7])
- Ramsey Unit - The unit is co-located with Stringfellow 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 discussions to move the Central Unit from Sugar Land to Brazoria County were preliminary.[3]
Elected officials[]
United States Congress[]
| Senators | Name | Party | First Elected | Level | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate Class 1 | John Cornyn | Republican | 2002 | Senior Senator | |
| Senate Class 2 | Ted Cruz | Republican | 2012 | Junior Senator | |
| Representatives | Name | Party | First Elected | Area(s) of Brazoria County Represented | |
| District 14 | Randy Weber | Republican | 2012 | Central and southern areas (Alvin), Lake Jackson, Angleton, Freeport), also part of (Galveston County) | |
| District 22 | Pete Olson | Republican | 2008 | Northern areas (Pearland), Northwest areas (Manvel), also parts of Harris and Galveston counties | |
Texas Legislature[]
Texas Senate[]
| District | Name | Party | First Elected | Area(s) of Brazoria County Represented | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Larry Taylor | Republican | 1999 | Northern and central areas | |
| 17 | Joan Huffman | Republican | 2008 | Southern areas, Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula (Galveston County) | |
Texas House of Representatives[]
| District | Name | Party | First Elected | Area(s) of Brazoria County Represented | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Dennis Bonnen | Republican | 1996 | Lake Jackson, Angleton, Freeport | |
| 29 | Ed Thompson | Republican | 2008 | Pearland, Alvin, Manvel | |
Pearland native Kyle Kacal, a Republican from College Station, holds the District 12 state House seat based in Brazos and four neighboring counties.[16]
| Year | Republican | Democratic | Third party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | No. | % | |
| 2020 | 90,433 | 58.35% | 62,228 | 40.15% | 2,323 | 1.50% |
| 2016 | 72,791 | 60.07% | 43,200 | 35.65% | 5,190 | 4.28% |
| 2012 | 70,862 | 66.39% | 34,421 | 32.25% | 1,456 | 1.36% |
| 2008 | 67,515 | 64.34% | 36,480 | 34.76% | 945 | 0.90% |
| 2004 | 63,662 | 68.27% | 28,904 | 31.00% | 682 | 0.73% |
| 2000 | 53,445 | 66.79% | 24,883 | 31.10% | 1,691 | 2.11% |
| 1996 | 36,392 | 55.44% | 22,959 | 34.98% | 6,287 | 9.58% |
| 1992 | 30,384 | 42.51% | 21,861 | 30.59% | 19,222 | 26.90% |
| 1988 | 34,028 | 57.60% | 23,436 | 39.67% | 1,617 | 2.74% |
| 1984 | 39,166 | 67.52% | 18,609 | 32.08% | 234 | 0.40% |
| 1980 | 27,614 | 58.08% | 18,253 | 38.39% | 1,677 | 3.53% |
| 1976 | 19,475 | 46.65% | 21,711 | 52.01% | 558 | 1.34% |
| 1972 | 21,045 | 64.89% | 11,350 | 35.00% | 37 | 0.11% |
| 1968 | 10,631 | 35.32% | 11,439 | 38.00% | 8,033 | 26.69% |
| 1964 | 8,477 | 34.60% | 15,917 | 64.98% | 103 | 0.42% |
| 1960 | 10,880 | 50.13% | 10,561 | 48.66% | 264 | 1.22% |
| 1956 | 9,536 | 56.49% | 7,137 | 42.28% | 208 | 1.23% |
| 1952 | 8,360 | 49.88% | 8,386 | 50.03% | 15 | 0.09% |
| 1948 | 2,133 | 25.51% | 4,783 | 57.19% | 1,447 | 17.30% |
| 1944 | 850 | 11.05% | 5,543 | 72.07% | 1,298 | 16.88% |
| 1940 | 799 | 17.43% | 3,781 | 82.46% | 5 | 0.11% |
| 1936 | 462 | 16.59% | 2,284 | 82.01% | 39 | 1.40% |
| 1932 | 617 | 17.25% | 2,948 | 82.44% | 11 | 0.31% |
| 1928 | 1,588 | 59.39% | 1,086 | 40.61% | 0 | 0.00% |
| 1924 | 1,114 | 37.21% | 1,761 | 58.82% | 119 | 3.97% |
| 1920 | 1,235 | 47.41% | 1,184 | 45.45% | 186 | 7.14% |
| 1916 | 581 | 33.62% | 1,033 | 59.78% | 114 | 6.60% |
| 1912 | 263 | 19.02% | 746 | 53.94% | 374 | 27.04% |
Communities[]
Cities[]
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Towns[]
Villages[]
Unincorporated areas[]
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.
Brazoria County Library System is the county library system.
External links[]
- Brazoria County government's website
- Brazoria County Museum Website
- Brazoria County FireFighters Association
- Brazoria County article in Handbook of Texas Online from The University of Texas at Austin.
- Historic materials about Brazoria County, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
- Alvin Youth Bowling Program
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Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown METROPOLITAN AREA |
|---|---|
| Counties | Austin | Brazoria | Chambers | Fort Bend | Galveston | Harris | Liberty | Montgomery | San Jacinto | Waller |
| "Principal" cities |
Houston | Sugar Land | Baytown | Galveston |
| Cities and towns |
Alvin | Angleton | Bellaire | Cleveland | Clute | Conroe | Dayton | Deer Park | Dickinson | Freeport | Friendswood | Galena Park | Hitchcock | Hempstead | Humble | Jacinto City | Jersey Village | Katy | Lake Jackson | La Marque | La Porte | League City | Liberty | Meadows Place | Missouri City | Pasadena | Pearland | Richmond | Rosenberg | Santa Fe | Seabrook | Sealy | South Houston | Stafford | Texas City | Tomball | Webster | West University Place |
| Unincorporated areas | Atascocita | Channelview | Cloverleaf | Cypress | Klein | Spring | The Woodlands |
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| This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Brazoria County, Texas. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |
- ^ "Sheriff's Office Archived September 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine." Brazoria County. Accessed September 13, 2008.
- ^ "Region III Director's Office Archived January 25, 2010, at the Wayback Machine." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on January 8, 2010.
- ^ a b Lowman, John. "Talk of prison move preliminary." Brazosport Facts. Wednesday June 6, 2007. Retrieved on May 9, 2010.
- ^ Horswell, Cindy. "For hard-hit economy of Liberty County, crime officially pays." Houston Chronicle. Thursday June 29, 1995. A30. Retrieved on July 23, 2010.
- ^ a b Isensee, Bridie. "TDCJ makes overtime changes", Brazosport Facts, 13 August 2003, Retrieved 2010-05-09.
- ^ "CLEMENS (CN) Archived 2010-07-25 at the Wayback Machine." TDCJ. Accessed September 12, 2008.
- ^ a b Staff and Wire Reports. "Parts of Houston join evacuation," Houston Chronicle, 21 September 2005, Retrieved on May 10, 2010.
- ^ "DARRINGTON (DA) Archived 2010-07-25 at the Wayback Machine." TDCJ. Accessed September 12, 2008.
- ^ "SCOTT (RV) Archived 2008-09-24 at the Wayback Machine." TDCJ. Accessed September 12, 2008.
- ^ "Table of Contents and Excerpt, Trulson and Marquart, First Available Cell." University of Texas Press. Retrieved on July 16, 2010.
- ^ "RAMSEY (R1) Archived August 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine." TDCJ. Accessed September 12, 2008.
- ^ "STRINGFELLOW (R2) Archived 2008-08-21 at the Wayback Machine." TDCJ. Accessed September 12, 2008.
- ^ Tompkins, John. "Ramsey unit renamed." Brazosport Facts. November 10, 2006. Retrieved on December 7, 2009.
- ^ "C. T. TERRELL (R3) Archived 2010-07-25 at the Wayback Machine." TDCJ. Accessed September 12, 2008.
- ^ 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".
- ^ "Kyle Kacal's Biography". votesmart.org. http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/138318/kyle-kacal#.Uwq2zcuPIfg.
- ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS.