Duval County, Texas Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Duval County
U.S. county
The Duval County Courthouse in San Diego
Location within the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Texas
Founded	1876
Named for	Burr H. Duval
Seat	San Diego
Largest city	San Diego
Area
• Total	1,796 sq mi (4,650 km²)
• Land	1,793 sq mi (4,640 km²)
• Water	2.1 sq mi (5 km²) 0.1%
Population (2020)
• Total	9,831
• Density	5.4738/sq mi (2.1135/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	15th

Duval County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 9,831. The county seat is San Diego. The county was founded in 1858 and later organized in 1876. It is named for Burr H. Duval, a soldier in the Texas Revolution who died in the Goliad Massacre.

History
Geography
- Major highways
- Adjacent counties
Demographics
- 2020 census
Communities
Education
Images for kids
See also

History

Even though Duval County lies in the United States, it has long been Mexican in character. A Mexican first surveyed it in 1804, Jose Contrerras, surveyor general of San Luis Potosi. Luis Muniz was born there in 1828, the county's first recorded birth. The important colonists came from Mier, Tamaulipas - and Anglos later respected their descendants as the old Mexican families.

The Texas Legislature established Duval County February 1, 1858. The Texas Almanac of 1867 reported that Duval and nearby Dimmit County had only four stock raisers and their population was unlikely to grow much absent the discovery of mineral wealth. Not long after, a wave of Anglo immigrants entered the county to raise sheep. Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, Irishmen, and Scots came. During this boom, the county seat enjoyed formal balls and haute cuisine. The Hotel Martinet's Sunday feast drew patrons from Corpus Christi, 50 miles (80 km) to the East. Prosperity in the 1880s eased ethnic animosities. After the Texas-Mexican Railway was built in 1881, its San Diego station was important for hides, wool, and cotton. But in 1886 the sheep began to die, and the boom died.

The corrupt Parr family political machine dominated Duval and nearby Jim Wells counties during the twentieth century, and were instrumental in the 1948 election of Lyndon Johnson to the US Senate, and to some extent the 1960 presidential election which threw Texas to John F Kennedy.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,796 square miles (4,650 km²), of which 1,793 square miles (4,640 km²) is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²) (0.1%) is water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 59
- The future route of Interstate 69W is planned to follow the current route of U.S. 59 in most places.
State Highway 16
State Highway 44
State Highway 285
State Highway 339
State Highway 359
Farm to Market Road 716
Farm to Market Road 1329
Farm to Market Road 2295
Farm to Market Road 3196

Adjacent counties

McMullen County (north)
Live Oak County (northeast)
Jim Wells County (east)
Brooks County (southeast)
Jim Hogg County (southwest)
Webb County (west)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	1,083	—
1880	5,732	429.3%
1890	7,598	32.6%
1900	8,483	11.6%
1910	8,964	5.7%
1920	8,251	−8.0%
1930	12,191	47.8%
1940	20,565	68.7%
1950	15,643	−23.9%
1960	13,398	−14.4%
1970	11,722	−12.5%
1980	12,517	6.8%
1990	12,918	3.2%
2000	13,120	1.6%
2010	11,782	−10.2%
2020	9,831	−16.6%
U.S. Decennial Census 1850–2010 2010 2020

2020 census

**Duval County, Texas - Demographic Profile**
(*NH = Non-Hispanic*)
Race / Ethnicity	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	1,206	937	10.24%	9.53%
Black or African American alone (NH)	86	145	0.73%	1.47%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	18	13	0.15%	0.13%
Asian alone (NH)	17	45	0.14%	0.46%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	5	0	0.04%	0.00%
Some Other Race alone (NH)	6	8	0.05%	0.08%
Mixed Race/Multi-Racial (NH)	20	721	0.17%	7.33%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	10,424	7,962	88.47%	80.99%
Total	11,782	9,831	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.