Guadalupe County, Texas

Guadalupe County (/ˌɡwɑːdəˈlʊpiː/[1], Spanish pronunciation: [gwaðaˈlupe]) is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 131,533.[2] The county seat is Seguin.[3] The county was founded in 1846 and is named after Guadalupe River.

Guadalupe County
U.S. county
The Guadalupe County Courthouse in Seguin
Location within the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 29°35′N 97°57′W
Country United States
State Texas
Founded1846
Named forGuadalupe River
SeatSeguin
Largest citySchertz
Area
 • Total715 sq mi (1,850 km2)
 • Land711 sq mi (1,840 km2)
 • Water3.5 sq mi (9 km2)  0.5%%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total131,533
 • Density185/sq mi (71/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district15th
Websitewww.co.guadalupe.tx.us
Separate from the courthouse is the Guadalupe County Justice Center on West Court Street
Guadalupe County Veterans Memorial

Guadalupe County is part of the San Antonio, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Indigenous paleo-Indian hunter-gatherers were the first inhabitants of the area, thousands of years before European colonization. Later historic Indian tribes settled in the area, including Tonkawa, Karankawa, Kickapoo, Lipan Apache, and Comanche.[4]

In 1689, Alonso de Leon named the Guadalupe River for Spain in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In 1806, French army officer José de la Baume, who later joined the Spanish army, was rewarded for his services to Spain with title to 27,000 acres (110 km2) of Texas land, the original El Capote Ranch. The grant was reaffirmed by the Republic of Mexico after it achieved independence.[5]

Following Mexico's independence from Spain, Anglo-Americans from the United States settled in Texas in 1821 and claimed Mexican citizenship. In 1825, Guadalupe County was part of Green DeWitt's petition for a land grant to establish a colony in Texas, which was approved by the Mexican government. From 1827 to 1835, twenty-two families settled the area as part of DeWitt's colony.[4]

Following Texas' gaining independence from Mexico (1836), 33 Gonzales Rangers and Republic veterans established Seguin. Founded as Walnut Springs in 1838, the settlement's name was changed to Seguin the next year to honor Juan Nepomuceno Seguín, who had fought for independence.[6]

In 1840, the Virginian Michael Erskine acquired the El Capote Ranch[7] for use as a cattle ranch. In 1842, the Republic of Texas organized Guadalupe County as a judicial county. The Texas Supreme Court declared judicial counties to be unconstitutional. In 1845, Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels secured title to 1,265 acres (5.12 km2) of the Veramendi grant in the northern part of the former judicial county.[4]

Following the annexation of Texas by the United States (1845), the Prussian immigrant August Wilhelm Schumann arrived on the Texas coast aboard the SS Franziska in 1846 and purchased 188 acres (0.76 km2) in Guadalupe County. Shortly thereafter, the state legislature established the present county from parts of Bexar and Gonzales counties.[4]

In 1846, during the war between the United States and Mexico, a wagon train of German immigrant settlers bought Guadalupe land from August Schumann. The following year the town of Schumannsville was established by German immigrants and named after him.[4] Numerous German immigrants entered Texas at Galveston following the revolutions of 1848 in German states, settling in Guadalupe County and central Texas. After their own struggles, they tended to oppose slavery.

The last Indian raid into the area was made by the Kickapoo in 1855.[4]

By 1860, there were 1,748 slaves of African descent in the county, generally brought in from the South by slaveholder migrants. In 1861, the people of the county voted 314–22 in favor of secession from the Union. Guadalupe County sent several troops to fight for the Confederate States Army. Following the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves (1865), a Freedmen's Bureau office opened in 1866 in Seguin to supervise work contracts between former slaves and area farmers.[8] Together, German Americans and African Americans joined the Republican Party, leading Guadalupe County to be a reliably Republican one into the 20th century,[9] even after the state disfranchisement of African Americans in 1901 by imposition of a poll tax.[10]

By 1876, the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway reached Seguin. It was completed as far as San Antonio the following year.[11] By 1880, ethnic Germans accounted for 40 percent of the county population. Tenant farming and sharecropping accounted for the operation of 25 percent of the county's farms. By 1910, immigrants from Mexico accounted for 11½ percent of the country’s population.

In 1929, oil was discovered at the Darst Creek oilfield.[12] By 1930, tenant farming and sharecropping comprised 64 percent of the county's farms.

Over the next five decades, the economy changed markedly as the area became more urbanized and less dependent on agriculture. By 1982, professional and related services, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade involved nearly 60 percent of the work force in the area.[4]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 715 square miles (1,850 km2), of which 711 square miles (1,840 km2) is land and 3.5 square miles (9.1 km2) (0.5%) is water.[13]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
18501,511—
18605,444260.3%
18707,28233.8%
188012,20267.6%
189015,21724.7%
190021,38540.5%
191024,91316.5%
192027,71911.3%
193028,9254.4%
194025,596−11.5%
195025,392−0.8%
196029,01714.3%
197033,55415.6%
198046,70839.2%
199064,87338.9%
200089,02337.2%
2010131,53347.8%
Est. 2019166,847[14]26.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[15]
1850–2010[16] 2010–2019[2]

As of the census[17] of 2000, there were 89,023 people, 30,900 households, and 23,823 families residing in the county. The population density was 125 people per square mile (48/km²). There were 33,585 housing units at an average density of 47 per square mile (18/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 77.65% White, 5.01% Black or African American, 0.55% Native American, 0.87% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 12.76% from other races, and 3.07% from two or more races. 33.21% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 30,900 households out of which 38.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.60% were married couples living together, 11.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.90% were non-families. 18.90% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.50% under the age of 18, 9.00% from 18 to 24, 29.10% from 25 to 44, 22.20% from 45 to 64, and 11.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $43,949, and the median income for a family was $49,645. Males had a median income of $32,450 versus $23,811 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,430. About 7.30% of families and 9.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.30% of those under age 18 and 9.50% of those age 65 or over.

Education

School districts

Colleges and universities

Texas Lutheran University has about 1,400 students. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.[47] TLU was ranked #3 among the Best West Regional universities by U.S. News & World Report 2013.[48] Texas Lutheran is now a member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, NCAA Division III, with Austin College, Colorado College, Centenary College of Louisiana, Schreiner University, Southwestern University, Trinity University, and the University of Dallas.

Communities

Cities (multiple counties)

Cities

Census-designated places

Other unincorporated communities

Ghost town

Politics

Although not to the same extent as Gillespie or Kendall Counties, Guadalupe is a strongly Republican county that possessed strong GOP leanings even during the “Solid South” era due to its Texas German heritage. The only Democratic Presidential candidate to carry Guadalupe County since 1940 has been Hill Country native Lyndon B. Johnson during his 1964 landslide: it was one of seven Lone Star State counties to vote for Thomas E. Dewey in 1944 and one of eight to do so in 1948. The only Democrat to reach 40% of the county’s vote since 1968 has been Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Although Al Smith did win the county in 1928 due to anti-Prohibition sentiment,[18] unlike nearby Bandera County, Guadalupe had even leaned Republican before Warren G. Harding’s 1920 landslide, voting Republican in every election between 1896 and 1924 except the divided 1912 contest.[19]

Presidential elections results
Presidential elections results[20]
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2016 63.0% 36,632 31.6% 18,391 5.3% 3,100
2012 66.7% 33,117 31.7% 15,744 1.5% 765
2008 64.9% 30,869 34.0% 16,156 1.1% 535
2004 72.8% 28,208 26.6% 10,290 0.7% 254
2000 70.3% 21,499 27.2% 8,311 2.5% 757
1996 58.4% 14,254 33.1% 8,079 8.5% 2,070
1992 46.8% 10,818 28.4% 6,567 24.8% 5,735
1988 64.4% 13,265 34.5% 7,111 1.1% 233
1984 73.8% 14,382 26.0% 5,060 0.2% 46
1980 64.2% 9,901 32.7% 5,049 3.1% 478
1976 52.3% 6,766 46.8% 6,054 0.9% 115
1972 70.8% 8,287 29.1% 3,404 0.1% 7
1968 47.6% 4,332 38.8% 3,529 13.6% 1,241
1964 37.4% 2,731 62.5% 4,568 0.1% 9
1960 53.9% 3,657 45.9% 3,116 0.2% 14
1956 66.9% 4,296 32.7% 2,099 0.5% 30
1952 65.2% 4,396 34.6% 2,330 0.2% 14
1948 51.0% 2,502 43.2% 2,119 5.9% 287
1944 58.9% 2,556 36.5% 1,583 4.7% 204
1940 53.1% 2,473 46.8% 2,182 0.1% 6
1936 29.9% 1,266 69.9% 2,962 0.2% 9
1932 15.5% 691 84.3% 3,751 0.2% 9
1928 43.5% 1,442 56.4% 1,872 0.1% 4
1924 40.5% 1,657 20.3% 831 39.2% 1,601
1920 56.9% 1,839 17.3% 560 25.8% 833
1916 68.4% 1,812 31.3% 830 0.3% 8
1912 38.7% 1,065 41.0% 1,128 20.3% 558

Government

Guadalupe County is run by a commissioners court presided by the county judge. The court has four members elected for two-year terms. The Commissioners are elected by and represent individual districts. The county judge is elected through a county-wide at-large election.

County judge past and present
  • Donald Schraub (2003 - 2007)[21]
  • Michael T. Wiggins (2007 - 2012)[22]
  • Larry Jones (2012 - 2014)[23]
  • Kyle Kutscher (2014–present)
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See also

References
  1. https://texasalmanac.com/sites/default/files/images/topics/TownPronunciationGuide.pdf
  2. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2013.
  3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  4. Smyrl, Vivian Elizabeth. "Guadalupe County, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  5. Texas Historical Marker, El Capote Ranch Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Gesick, John. "Seguin, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  7. Perry, Ann; Smith, Deborah; Simons, Helen; Hoyt, Catheriine A (1996). A Guide to Hispanic Texas. University of Texas Press. p. 204. ISBN 978-0-292-77709-5.
  8. Harper Jr, Cecil. "Freedman's Bureau". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  9. Kesselus, Ken (2002). Alvin Wirtz, The Senator, LBJ, and LCRA. Austin: Eakin Press. ISBN 1-57168-688-6.
  10. "Nixon v. Condon. Disfranchisement of the Negro in Texas", The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 41, No. 8, June 1932, p. 1212, accessed 21 March 2008
  11. Longhorn Chapter of the N.H.R.S. "Seguin and The Railroad". Texas transportation Museum, San Antonio. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  12. Smith, Julie Cauble. "Darst Creek Oilfield". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  13. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  14. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau. May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  15. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  16. "Texas Almanac: Population History of Counties from 1850–2010" (PDF). Texas Almanac. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  17. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
  18. Key, V.O. junior; Southern Politics in State and Nation; p. 276 ISBN 087049435X
  19. Menendez, Albert J.; The Geography of Presidential Elections in the United States, 1868-2004, pp. 306-311 ISBN 0786422173
  20. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 2018-07-25.
  21. "Obituary for Donald L. Schraub at Tres Hewell Mortuary". www.treshewell.com. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  22. "Mike Wiggins - Ballotpedia". Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  23. "Larry Jones (Guadalupe County) - Ballotpedia". Retrieved 2018-06-23.

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