Brazoria County, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brazoria County
|
||
---|---|---|
The Brazoria County Courthouse in Angleton
|
||
|
||
Location within the U.S. state of Texas
|
||
Texas's location within the U.S. |
||
Country | United States | |
State | Texas | |
Founded | 1836 | |
Named for | Brazos River | |
Seat | Angleton | |
Largest city | Pearland | |
Area | ||
• Total | 1,609 sq mi (4,170 km2) | |
• Land | 1,358 sq mi (3,520 km2) | |
• Water | 251 sq mi (650 km2) 16%% | |
Population
(2020)
|
||
• Total | 372,031 | |
• Density | 272.9/sq mi (105.4/km2) | |
Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) | |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) | |
Congressional districts | 14th, 22nd |
Brazoria County ( BRƏ-zor-EE-ə) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 372,031. The county seat is Angleton.
Brazoria County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. It is located in the Gulf Coast region of Texas.
Regionally, parts of the county are within the extreme southernmost fringe of the regions locally known as Southeast Texas. Brazoria County is among a number of counties that are part of the region known as the Texas Coastal Bend. Its county seat is Angleton, and its largest city is Pearland. Brazoria County, like Brazos County farther upriver, takes its name from the Brazos River. It served as the first settlement area for Anglo-Texas, when the Old Three Hundred emigrated from the United States in 1821. The county also includes what was once Columbia and Velasco, Texas, early capital cities of the Republic of Texas. The highest point in Brazoria County is Shelton's Shack, located near the Dow Chemical Plant B Truck Control Center, measuring 342 ft above sea level.
Contents
History
Brazoria County, like 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.
An early resident of Brazoria County, Joel Walter Robison, fought in the Texas Revolution and later represented Fayette County in the Texas House of Representatives.
Stephen F. Austin's original burial place is located at a church cemetery, Gulf Prairie Cemetery, in the town of Jones Creek, on what was his brother-in-law's "Peach Point Plantation". His remains were exhumed in 1910 and brought to be reinterred at the state capital in Austin. The town of West Columbia served as the first capital of Texas, dating back to pre-revolutionary days.
.
Temple Lea Houston, youngest son of Sam Houston, was c. 1880 the county attorney of Brazoria County. His life story is reflected in the 1963 film The Man from Galveston and the 26-episode 1963-1964 NBC western television series, Temple Houston.
Lake Jackson is a community developed beginning in the early 1940s to provide housing to workers at a new Dow Chemical Company plant in nearby Freeport. The county has elements of both rural and suburban communities, as it is part of the Greater Houston area.
On June 2, 2016, the flooding of the Brazos River required evacuations for portions of Brazoria County.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,609 square miles (4,170 km2), of which 1,358 square miles (3,520 km2) is land and 251 square miles (650 km2) (16%) is water.
Adjacent counties
- Harris County (north)
- Galveston County (northeast)
- Matagorda County (southwest)
- Wharton County (west)
- Fort Bend County (northwest)
National protected areas
Demographics
Historical population | |||
---|---|---|---|
Census | Pop. | %± | |
1850 | 4,841 | — | |
1860 | 7,143 | 47.6% | |
1870 | 7,527 | 5.4% | |
1880 | 9,774 | 29.9% | |
1890 | 11,506 | 17.7% | |
1900 | 14,861 | 29.2% | |
1910 | 13,299 | −10.5% | |
1920 | 20,614 | 55.0% | |
1930 | 23,054 | 11.8% | |
1940 | 27,069 | 17.4% | |
1950 | 46,549 | 72.0% | |
1960 | 76,204 | 63.7% | |
1970 | 108,312 | 42.1% | |
1980 | 169,587 | 56.6% | |
1990 | 191,707 | 13.0% | |
2000 | 241,767 | 26.1% | |
2010 | 313,166 | 29.5% | |
2020 | 372,031 | 18.8% | |
U.S. Decennial Census 1850–2010 2010–2020 |
In the late 1800s the county was majority black as many were former slaves who had worked on plantations in the county. In 1882 it had 8,219 black people and 3,642 white people. However after Jim Crow laws were cemented, many African-Americans moved to Houston and the county became majority white. By 2022, due to the growth of ethnic minorities in Pearland, non-Hispanic White people were now a plurality and not a majority in the county as a whole.
2020 census
Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2010 | Pop 2020 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|
White alone (NH) | 166,674 | 161,833 | 53.22% | 43.50% |
Black or African American alone (NH) | 36,880 | 53,668 | 11.78% | 14.43% |
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 1,013 | 1,022 | 0.32% | 0.27% |
Asian alone (NH) | 17,013 | 26,231 | 5.43% | 7.05% |
Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 58 | 129 | 0.02% | 0.03% |
Some Other Race alone (NH) | 472 | 1,374 | 0.15% | 0.37% |
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH) | 4,413 | 12,572 | 1.41% | 3.38% |
Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 86,643 | 115,202 | 27.67% | 30.97% |
Total | 313,166 | 372,031 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
Transportation
Major highways
Airports
The Texas Gulf Coast Regional Airport, in central unincorporated Brazoria County, is the county's sole publicly owned airport.
The following airports, located in the county, are privately owned and for public use:
- Flyin' B Airport in western unincorporated Brazoria County
- Skyway Manor Airport in Pearland
- Pearland Regional Airport in eastern unincorporated Brazoria County south of the Pearland city limits
The closest airport with regularly scheduled commercial service is Houston's William P. Hobby Airport, located in southern Houston in adjacent Harris County. The Houston Airport System has stated that Brazoria County is within the primary service area of George Bush Intercontinental Airport, an international airport in Houston in Harris County.
Toll roads
Authority overview | |
---|---|
Formed | December 2003 |
Jurisdiction | Brazoria County, Texas |
Headquarters | Brazoria Commissioners Court |
The Brazoria County Toll Road Authority operates toll lanes on TX 288 inside Brazoria County. They connect to the SH 288 Express Toll Lanes in Harris County operated by the Texas Department of Transportation.
History
BCTRA came into existence in December, 2003 when it saw that the Houston area needed more roadways and wanted to have a say so about any roads that come into Brazoria County.
Roadway system
The only toll road BCTRA has in operation at this time is the Brazoria County Expressway. Located within the media of SH 288, the expressway begins at County Road 58 in Manvel and is maintained by BCTRA for five miles up to the Harris County line at Clear Creek. The 288 Toll Lanes continue into Harris County (maintained by TxDOT) for ten miles up to I-69/US 59 in Houston. Construction began on the Brazoria County Expressway in late 2016 and was completed on November 16, 2020. Tolls are collected electronically and an EZ Tag, TxTag or TollTag is required for passage.
Communities
Cities
- Alvin
- Angleton (county seat)
- Brazoria
- Brookside Village
- Clute
- Danbury
- Freeport
- Lake Jackson
- Liverpool
- Manvel
- Oyster Creek
- Pearland (small parts in Harris and Fort Bend counties)
- Richwood
- Sandy Point
- Surfside Beach
- Sweeny
- West Columbia
Towns
Villages
Census-designated places
Unincorporated communities
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. Alvin CC serves areas in Alvin, Danbury, and Pearland ISDs as well as portions of the Angleton ISD that Alvin CC had annexed prior to September 1, 1995. Brazosport College serves the remainder of Angleton ISD and the Brazosport, Columbia-Brazoria, Damon, and Sweeny ISD areas.
The Brazoria County Library System has branches in Alvin, Angleton, Brazoria, Clute, Danbury, Freeport, Lake Jackson, Manvel, Pearland, Sweeny and West Columbia, and runs the Brazoria County Historical Museum.
Images for kids
See also
In Spanish: Condado de Brazoria para niños