Orange County, Texas facts for kids

Orange County
Quick facts for kids Orange County
	U.S. county
	The Orange County Courthouse in Orange
	Seal
	Seal
	Location within the U.S. state of Texas
	; Texas's location within the U.S.;
Country	United States
State	Texas
Founded	January 5, 1852
Named for	Orange fruit
Seat	Orange
Largest city	Orange
Area
• Total	380 sq mi (1,000 km2)
• Land	334 sq mi (870 km2)
• Water	46 sq mi (120 km2) 12%%
Population (2010)
• Total	81,837
• Density	245/sq mi (95/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	36th

This article is about Orange County (disambiguation). For other uses, see Orange County, Texas (disambiguation).

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 81,837. The county seat is Orange.

Orange County is included in the Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is located in the very southeastern corner of Texas, with a boundary with Louisiana, within the Golden Triangle of Texas.

History

Orange County was formed in 1852 from portions of Jefferson County. It was named after the orange fruit, the common citrus fruit grown by the early settlers of this County near the mouth of the Sabine River. Due to periodic spells of quite cold winter weather (frosts) in Orange County, it is no longer the home of orange trees and citrus orchards. The production of those fruits in Texas long ago was moved a long way southwest into the Rio Grande Valley, where the weather is almost always warm all winter long. Citrus trees produce their fruit in the wintertime, which makes them especially vulnerable to frost and icy weather.

A similar thing has happened in Florida, where orchards of citrus trees no longer exist in either Citrus County or Orange County because of bad winter freezes in some years. In both Florida and Texas, the citrus agriculture has been moved farther south in search of milder winters, and away from the periodic frosts.

During World War II, Orange County was the home of a large amount of shipbuilding for the navies the United States and allied countries. The major shipbuilder, the Consolidated Steel Corporation was located in the town of Orange, and among the warships that it built were the USS Aulick (DD-569) (1942), the first warship built there, the USS Pope (DE-134) (1943), and the USS Carpenter (DD-825) (1945–46), the last warship built there. During the war, the Consolidate Steel Corporation employed as many as 20,000 people at its shipyard in Orange, Texas.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 380 square miles (980 km²), of which 334 square miles (870 km²) is land and 46 square miles (120 km²) (12%) is water.

Orange County is bordered on its east by the Sabine River, on its southeast by Sabine Lake, and on the northwest by the Neches River.

The geography of Orange County varies relatively little, with an elevation that reaches 33 feet (10 meters) above sea level at very few points within the county. Orange County is very flat, and its soil is quite sandy, as could be expected in a county along the Gulf of Mexico. (Sandy soil is also common in southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and in western and southern Florida.) There are saltwater marshes in much of the southeastern part of Orange County that borders the Sabine River. There are piney woods (sometimes capitalized) in the northern part of the county.

Adjacent counties and parishes

National protected area

Big Thicket National Preserve (part)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	1,916	—
1870	1,255	−34.5%
1880	2,938	134.1%
1890	4,770	62.4%
1900	5,905	23.8%
1910	9,528	61.4%
1920	15,379	61.4%
1930	15,149	−1.5%
1940	17,382	14.7%
1950	40,567	133.4%
1960	60,357	48.8%
1970	71,170	17.9%
1980	83,838	17.8%
1990	80,509	−4.0%
2000	84,966	5.5%
2010	81,837	−3.7%
Est. 2015	84,260	3.0%
U.S. Decennial Census 1850–2010 2010–2014

As of the census of 2000, there were 84,966 people, 31,642 households, and 23,794 families residing in the county. The population density was 238 people per square mile (92/km²). There were 34,781 housing units at an average density of 98 per square mile (38/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.98% White, 8.38% Black or African American, 0.56% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.12% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. 3.62% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 31,642 households out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.80% were married couples living together, 12.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.80% were non-families. 21.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the county, the population was spread out with 27.30% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 12.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,586, and the median income for a family was $44,152. Males had a median income of $40,185 versus $21,859 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,554. About 11.40% of families and 13.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.50% of those under age 18 and 12.40% of those age 65 or over.