Waller County, Texas

Waller County Education, Geography, and History

Waller County is a county in the state of Texas. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 43,205. Its county seat is Hempstead. The county was named for Edwin Waller, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and first mayor of Austin.

Waller County is included in the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Waller County Name

Edwin Waller, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and the first mayor of Austin, Texas

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Waller County History

Waller County is a county located in the US state of Texas. Its county seat is Hempstead. The county was named for Virginia native Edwin Waller, the first mayor of Austin and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

Handbook of Texas Online
During the Civil War Confederate camps Carter, Groce, and Hebert were established near Hempstead; the town became a Confederate supply and manufacturing center, and a Confederate military hospital was established there. Camp Groce was one of two locations holding Union prisoners of war. Support was strong for the Confederacy in the area. Dr. Richard R. Peebles, a prominent local citizen who helped to found Hempstead, was imprisoned and exiled by Confederate authorities for speaking and writing against the war. Union soldiers marched into Hempstead in the summer of 1865, and about 4,000 troops commanded by George Armstrong Custer camped near Hempstead from August to October. An agency of the Freedmen's Bureau was established at Hempstead in 1866, and in 1867 two companies of federal troops were assigned there. The emancipation of the area's slaves disrupted the local economy and led to the breakup of many of the large plantations; cotton production plunged, and as late as 1870 remained significantly below prewar levels. (The Liendo Plantation was purchased by Edmund Montgomery and his wife, sculptor Elisabet Ney, in 1873). Though according to some reports the white citizens of Hempstead established a good relationship with the occupying soldiers, the city's peace was disturbed by a race riot in 1868. The area's majority black population became active in local politics during Reconstruction, and a number of blacks were elected to county and state offices. After Waller County was established in 1873, a majority of the county's voters supported the Republican candidates in every presidential election from 1872 to 1896. More at
Carole E. Christian and John Leffler, "WALLER COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcw02), 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 518 square miles (1,343 km²), of which, 514 square miles (1,330 km²) of it is land and 4 square miles (13 km²) of it (0.94%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Grimes County (north)
• Montgomery County (northeast)
• Harris County (east)
• Fort Bend County (south)
• Austin County (west)
• Washington County (northwest)

Education

School districts serving Waller County include:

Hempstead Independent School District
Royal Independent School District
Katy Independent School District (portions of the district are in other counties)
Waller Independent School District (portions of the district are in other counties)
Prairie View A&M University is the only university located within the county.

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