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Brazoria County, Texas facts for kids

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Brazoria County
The Brazoria County Courthouse in Angleton
The Brazoria County Courthouse in Angleton
Official seal of Brazoria County
Seal
Map of Texas highlighting Brazoria County
Location within the U.S. state of Texas
Map of the United States highlighting 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) 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.

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.

Men in Work Clothes
Group of men at work in Brazoria County, 1939

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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.

Back View of Trucks
Back view of agricultural trucks, 1939


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

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

Brazoria County, Texas - Demographic Profile
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
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

  • Texas 6.svg State Highway 6
  • Texas 35.svg State Highway 35
  • Texas 36.svg State Highway 36
  • Texas 288.svg State Highway 288

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

Brazoria County Toll Road Authority
Authority overview
Formed December 2003 (2003-12)
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

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

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Condado de Brazoria para niños

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