Texans followed the pattern that no one should be more than a day's journey from their courthouse, making counties relatively small. In short, mainly because of its historical foundations, Texas, with nearly 30 million people living there, has 254 counties. Based on the belief that every resident should live close to their local courthouse, the state has managed to keep the county's size small. The Constitution of 1876, which is what much of today's Texas state legislation is based on, established requirements for Texas counties.
The new counties had to be at least 900 square miles long and, whenever possible, arranged like a grid. The new Texas Constitution states that existing counties cannot be reduced to less than 900 square miles unless they have the consent of a two-thirds majority of the legislature. Texas is the second largest state in terms of area and population, but it has 95 more counties than any other state. I remember being told in high school (and not in Texas) before the car, that the county seat had to be less than a day's horseback ride away, from anywhere in the county.
So what's the problem with Texas? We can better understand the origins and other interesting facts related to Texas counties by delving into history. When Texas sold land to the United States as part of the Compromise of 1850, nine other counties were added. Texas used to be divided into land districts, when an area had a certain population, it later became a county. In the early days of the state, Texas became a state in 1845, Texans needed to be close to local governments, which were responsible for courts, jails, schools and highways, said attorney David Brooks, who specializes in Texas county government.
After the establishment of the Republic of Texas after the revolution against Mexico, Texas formed a new government and made the decision to clearly delineate the sections. Since Texas covers nearly 270,000 square miles, it's no surprise that there are so many counties by far more than any other state. The first counties in Texas history were called municipalities and date back to Spanish rule, according to the Texas Association of Counties. These were large counties that were soon divided into smaller entities and, as settlers began to migrate west, Texas gained 14 more counties in less than a decade.
The land known as the Youth Territory in the Plains of the Panhandle was divided into 54 counties that year, which is why the counties of northwest Texas are square and rectangular. Therefore, any new county that the Texas Congress created in the future would require one hundred free men to file applications, and the area had to consist of a minimum of 900 square miles. At first, the counties of Texas were known as municipalities, according to the name given during Spanish rule.
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