DeWitt County, Texas
Encyclopedia
DeWitt County is a county located in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. In 2000, its population was 20,013. DeWitt County is named for Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt was an empresario in Mexican Texas. He founded the DeWitt Colony, one of the most successful.-Early years:...

, who founded an early colony in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. The seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of the county is Cuero
Cuero, Texas
Cuero is a city in DeWitt County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,571 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of DeWitt County. It is also unofficially known as the "turkey capital of the world"...

. It was founded in 1846.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the county has a total area of 910 square miles (2,356.9 km²), of which 909 square miles (2,354.3 km²) is land and 1 square miles (2.6 km²) (0.14%) is water.

Major highways

  • U.S. Highway 87
  • U.S. Highway 77 Alternate/U.S. Highway 183
  • State Highway 72
    State Highway 72 (Texas)
    State Highway 72 or SH 72 is a Texas state highway that runs from near Fowlerton to near Cuero.-History:SH 72 was originally proposed in 1926 from Kenedy to Carmine, absorbing previously designated SH 3B. By 1939, it had been readjusted, with the section north of Cuero transferred to U.S. Highway...

  • State Highway 119
    State Highway 119 (Texas)
    State Highway 119 or SH 119 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas that runs from Stockdale to Alt. US 77 and U.S. Highway 183 north of Goliad.-Route description:...


Adjacent counties

  • Lavaca County  (northeast)
  • Victoria County
    Victoria County, Texas
    Victoria County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 84,088. Its county seat is Victoria. It is included in the Victoria, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:According to the U.S...

      (southeast)
  • Goliad County  (south)
  • Karnes County
    Karnes County, Texas
    Karnes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 15,446. Its county seat is Karnes City. Karnes County is named for Henry Karnes, a soldier in the Texas Revolution.-Geography:...

      (southwest)
  • Gonzales County
    Gonzales County, Texas
    Gonzales County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 18,628. It is named for its seat, the city of Gonzales.-History Timeline:* Paleo-Indians Hunter-gatherers, and later Coahuiltecan, Tonkawa, Karankawa...

      (northwest)

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 20,013 people, 7,207 households, and 5,131 families residing in the county. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 22 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 8,756 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 76.42% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 11.04% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.54% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.21% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 0.02% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, 10.01% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 1.75% from two or more races. 27.24% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

 of any race. 28.0% were of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 and 6.1% American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 ancestry according to Census 2000. 77.2% spoke English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, 20.5% Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 and 1.6% German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 as their first language.

There were 7,207 households out of which 31.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.10% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 11.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.80% were non-families. 26.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.80% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 27.10% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 18.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 105.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.20 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,714, and the median income for a family was $33,513. Males had a median income of $27,134 versus $18,370 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the county was $14,780. About 15.30% of families and 19.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.50% of those under age 18 and 16.50% of those age 65 or over.

Native Americans

Archeological digs indicate early habitation from the Paleo-Indians Hunter-gatherers period. Later, Tonkawa
Tonkawa
The Tickanwa•tic Tribe , better known as the Tonkawa , are a Native American people indigenous to present-day Oklahoma and Texas. They once spoke the now-extinct Tonkawa language believed to have been a language isolate not related to any other indigenous tongues...

, Aranamas, Tamiques, Karankawa
Karankawa
Karankawa were a group of Native American peoples, now extinct as a tribal group, who played a pivotal part in early Texas history....

. Tawakoni, Lipan Apache and Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...

 lived and hunted in the county.

Explorers

The first European visitors to the county are thought to have been Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the New World, one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition...

, Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, and his slave Estevanico of the ill-fated 1528 Narváez expedition
Narváez expedition
The Narváez expedition was a Spanish attempt during the years 1527–1528 to colonize Spanish Florida. It was led by Pánfilo de Narváez, who was to rule as adelantado....

. French explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle is believed to have crossed the county on his way westward from Victoria County
Victoria County, Texas
Victoria County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 84,088. Its county seat is Victoria. It is included in the Victoria, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:According to the U.S...

; and while La Bahia was a common route, no evidence of any settlements exist before the Anglo homesteaders.

County established and growth

In 1825, empresario Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt
Green DeWitt was an empresario in Mexican Texas. He founded the DeWitt Colony, one of the most successful.-Early years:...

 received a grant from the Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas
Coahuila y Tejas was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution.It had two capitals: first Saltillo, and then Monclova...

 legislature to settle 400 families. Between 1826 and 1831 settlers arrived from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, and other Southern states.

A temporary county government was set up in 1846, with the county seat being Daniel Boone Friar's store at the junction of the La Bahía Road and the Gonzales-Victoria road. On November 28, 1850, Clinton became the county seat until Cuero became county seat in 1876.

Dewitt County voted in favor of secession from the Union, and sent several military units to serve. During Reconstruction, the county was occupied by the Fourth Corps, based at Victoria.

From April 1866 until December 1868 a subassistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands
The Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. federal government agency that aided distressed freedmen in 1865–1869, during the Reconstruction era of the United States....

 served at Clinton. The community of Hopkinsville was established in 1872 by Henry Hopkins, freedman former slave of Judge Henry Clay Pleasants, the judge credited for ending the Sutton-Taylor Feud. Residents began a school that was active until 1956, and established the Antioch Baptist Church.

The notorious Sutton-Taylor feud began as a Reconstruction era county law enforcement issue between the Taylor family and lawman William E. Sutton. It eventually involved both the Taylor and Sutton families, the Texas State Police
Texas State Police
The Texas State Police were formed during the administration of Texas Governor Edmund J. Davis on July 22, 1870, to combat crime statewide in Texas. It was dissolved April 22, 1873.-History:...

, the Texas Rangers
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...

 and John Wesley Hardin
John Wesley Hardin
John Wesley Hardin was an American outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk hero of the Old West. He was born in Bonham, Texas. Hardin found himself in trouble with the law at an early age, and spent the majority of his life being pursued by both local lawmen and federal troops of the...

. The feud, which lasted a decade and cost 35 lives, has been called the longest and bloodiest in Texas history.

April 1, 1866 marked the first cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail
Chisholm Trail
The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the late 19th century to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The portion of the trail marked by Jesse Chisholm went from his southern trading post near the Red River, to his northern trading post near Kansas City, Kansas...

, which originated at Cardwell's Flat, near the present Cuero. The coming of the railroads eliminated the need for the Chisholm Trail. Dewitt's first rail line, the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific, extended to San Antonio. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway, was the second line in the county. In 1907 the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway came through Dewitt. In 1925, the three lines came under the control of the Southern Pacific lines and operated as the Texas and New Orleans Railroad
Texas and New Orleans Railroad
The Texas and New Orleans Railroad is a former railroad in Texas and Louisiana. At one point the company was the largest railroad in Texas, with of trackage in 1934, but by 1961 there were only remaining when it was merged with parent company Southern Pacific....

. Passenger service continued until November 1950.

The United States Army Air Corps opened Cuero Field, serving 290 cadets, at Cuero Municipal Airport as a pilot flight school in 1941. The school was deactivated in 1944.

Cuero and its large turkey growing industry bills itself as the "Turkey Capital of the World". The turkey industry in Cuero began large scale operations in 1908. Much like ranchers had cattle drives, Cuero poultry growers drove their turkeys down Main Street to the local packing plant. Each year the crowds grew to watch the sight and sound of upwards of 20,000 turkeys going through town. The first annual Cuero Turkey Trot celebration began in 1912, complete with the "Turkey Trot" dance music of the era. By the 1970s, the event had become a 3-day typical Texas celebration with parades, live entertainment, food booths and street dances.

Cities and towns

  • Cuero
    Cuero, Texas
    Cuero is a city in DeWitt County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,571 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of DeWitt County. It is also unofficially known as the "turkey capital of the world"...

  • Hochheim
    Hochheim, Texas
    Hochheim is an unincorporated community in DeWitt County, Texas, United States. It was founded as a settlement for German immigrants along the Guadalupe River.-Geography:Hochheim is located at , above sea level...

     (unincorporated)
  • Meyersville
    Meyersville, Texas
    Meyersville is an unincorporated community in DeWitt County, Texas, United States.The Meyersville Independent School District serves area students in grades kindergarten through eight. Ninth through twelfth grade students attend Cuero High School in the Cuero Independent School District....

     (unincorporated)
  • Nordheim
    Nordheim, Texas
    Nordheim is a city in DeWitt County, Texas, United States. The population was 323 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Nordheim is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

  • Pearl City
    Pearl City, Texas
    Pearl City is a small unincorporated community in DeWitt County, Texas, United States, at the intersection of State Highway 111 and Farm Road 951 just west of Yoakum and 191 miles west of Houston.-History:...

     (unincorporated)
  • Westhoff
    Westhoff, Texas
    Westhoff is an unincorporated community in northwestern DeWitt County, Texas, United States. The town began as a depot on the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway in 1906. Early on the town was named Bello, but that was rejected as it bore too close a similarity to a similarly named...

  • Yoakum
    Yoakum, Texas
    Yoakum is a city in DeWitt and Lavaca Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 5,731 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Yoakum is located at ....

  • Yorktown
    Yorktown, Texas
    Yorktown is a city in DeWitt County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,271 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Yorktown is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....


Notable residents

  • James Dahlman
    James Dahlman
    James Charles Dahlman , also known as Jim Dahlman, Cowboy Jim and Mayor Jim, was elected to eight terms as mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, serving the city for 20 years over a 23-year-period. A German-American and an agnostic, Dahlman grew up in a ranching area and started working as a Texas cowboy...

    , eight-term Omaha mayor from 1906 to 1930, was born in DeWitt County.
  • Harlon Block
    Harlon Block
    Harlon Henry Block was a United States Marine during World War II. Born in Texas, Block joined the Marine Corps in November 1943 and subsequently saw action during the Battle of Bougainville and the Battle of Iwo Jima where he was killed in action...

    , one of the soldiers pictured in Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
    Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
    Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is a historic photograph taken on February 23, 1945, by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five United States Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II.The photograph was extremely...

    , was born in Yorktown.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK