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Texas Counties
Texas is divided into two hundred and fifty-four counties, more than any other state. Texas was originally divided into municipalities, a unit of local government under Spanish and Mexican rule. When the Republic of Texas gained its independence in 1836, there were 23 municipalities, which became the original Texas counties. Many of these would later be divided into new counties. The most recent county to be created was Kenedy County in 1921. The most recent county to be organized was Loving County in 1931Grayson County, Texas
Grayson County Education, Geography, and History
Grayson County is a county located in the state of Texas. Based on the 2010 census, its population was 120,877. The county seat is Sherman.
The county was founded in 1846 and is named after Peter Wagener Grayson, an attorney general of the Republic of Texas.
Grayson County is included in the Sherman-Denison, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Dallas-Fort
Worth-Arlington, TX Combined Statistical Area. It is also part of the Texoma region, with proximity to both Lake Texoma and the Red River.
Etymology - Origin of Grayson County Name
Peter Wagener Grayson, an attorney general of the Republic of Texas
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts
Grayson County History
The earliest known inhabitants of what is now Grayson County, Texas were Caddo Amerindian groups, including Tonkawa,
Ionis, and Kichai. These groups engaged in agriculture and traded with Spanish and French at trading posts along the Red River. This resulted
in the establishment of trading posts at Preston Bend on the Red River, Warren, and Pilot Grove during 1836 and 1837.
After the establishment of Peters Colony in the early 1840s, settlement near the Red River became more rapid, and Grayson County was created
from Fannin County by the Texas State Legislature on March 17, 1846. The county seat, Sherman, was also named by the Texas State Legislature.
It is named after Peter Wagener Grayson, an attorney general of the Republic of Texas.
Handbook of Texas Online
Various Caddo groups, including the Kichai, Ionis, and Tonkawa Indians, were the earliest known inhabitants of
the area that became Grayson County. These Indians, agriculturalists who found the soils of the area suitable to
their way of life, traded and negotiated with the Spanish and French, who moved up the Red River during the
eighteenth century to establish trading posts. French and Spanish expeditions resulted in the initial settlements
established in 1836-37 at Preston Bend on the Red River, at Pilot Grove in the southeastern part of the county, and
at Warren. After the establishment and surveying of the Peters colony in the
early 1840s, settlement of the region progressed rapidly. On March 17, 1846, Grayson County, named for Peter W.
Grayson, attorney general of the Republic of Texas,
was marked off from Fannin County. The legislative action also specified that the county seat be called Sherman. The
naming of the county seat in honor of Gen. Sidney Sherman was apparently an
effort to effect a compromise between supporters of Sherman, an anti-Houston Whig, and Grayson, a pro-Houston
Democrat. Sherman has the distinction of being one of the few towns in the Lone Star State named by an act of the
legislature. More at
Donna J. Kumler, "GRAYSON COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcg09),
accessed January 23, 2016. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
Geography: Land and Water
As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 979 square miles (2,536 km2), of which, 934
square miles (2,418 km2) of it is land and 46 square miles (118 km2) of it (4.67%) is water.
Neighboring Counties
Bordering counties are as follows:
- Marshall County, Oklahoma (north)
- Bryan County, Oklahoma (northeast)
- Fannin County (east)
- Collin County (south)
- Denton County (southwest)
- Cooke County (west)
- Love County, Oklahoma (northwest)
Education
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