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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 1931McMullen County, Texas
McMullen County Education, Geography, and History
McMullen County is a county located in the state of Texas. Based on the 2010 census, its population was 707, making it the fifth-least populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Tilden. The county was established from parts of Bexar County, Atascosa County, and Live Oak County in 1858 and later organized in 1877. It is named for John McMullen, founder of a colony in Texas.
Etymology - Origin of McMullen County Name
John McMullen, an Irish founder of a colony in Texas
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts
McMullen County History
McMullen County is a county located in the US state of Texas.Its seat is Tilden. McMullen is named for John McMullen, founder of a colony in Texas.
Handbook of Texas Online
Between the Texas Revolution and the Mexican War of 1846-48, most of what is
now McMullen County lay in the disputed area between the Rio Grande and the Nueces River. Asserting its claim to the
area, the Republic of Texas issued forty-five land grants to property in the
area between 1841 and 1845, including a large grant to an English company. It is doubtful that any of these grantees
permanently occupied their land, however. Neither the Republic of Texas nor the Mexican government could establish
control over this strip of contested land, and it became a haven for outlaws and desperate characters. When William
Bollaert, an English land speculator, traveled through the area between the
Nueces and Frio rivers in 1844, for example, the only people he encountered were convicts who had escaped from a
prison in Laredo. Even after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo definitively
assigned the Nueces Strip to Texas, outlaws and unfriendly Indians delayed development of the area for years. When
McMullen County was officially established from parts of Bexar, Atascosa, and Live Oak counties in 1858, the area
had only begun to be settled. In the years just prior to the Civil War settlers
began to move into northern McMullen County, particularly along the Frio River; the area's grasslands and many wild
cattle and mustangs offered economic opportunity for those willing to risk
attack. In 1858 a group of about thirty people established a settlement where Leoncita Creek met the Frio. By fall
of that year they had built eight to ten crude dwellings and soon afterward began to cut a road to meet the San
Antonio-Laredo road that lay to the west. Dubbed Rio Frio, later Dog Town, and then Tilden, this was the first
permanent settlement in the county. About ten miles to the east of the Rio Frio settlement, along a broad curve in
the Frio River, another group established what came to be known as Yarbrough Bend, a loose community composed mainly
of squatters. By 1860 there were perhaps 100 settlers in the county. In the early years of settlement, residents
lived on a subsistence level, raising small patches of crops and killing wild game. They also relied to a great
extent on the wild cattle and horses that grazed in the area. Until about 1867 the settlers often found that there
was a better market for mustangs than for wild cattle, but they also engaged in "cow hunts" to build herds and for
sale along the Texas coast and, later, in Kansas. By the late 1860s and early 1870s a number of ranches had been
established, mostly in the northern part of the county. For protection, ranchers often grouped their dwellings
together. By 1870 Yarbrough Bend, for example, included perhaps thirty families; others clustered along San Miguel
Creek or at the Rio Frio settlement, which had come to be called Dog Town More at
John Leffler, "MCMULLEN COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm09),
accessed January 24, 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 1,143 square miles (2,959 km2), of which,
1,113 square miles (2,883 km2) of it is land and 30 square miles (76 km2) of it (2.59%) is water.
Neighboring Counties
Bordering counties are as follows:
- Atascosa County (north)
- Live Oak County (east)
- Duval County (south)
- Webb County (southwest)
- La Salle County (west)
- Frio County (northwest)
Education
McMullen County is served by the McMullen County Independent School District
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