Duval County is a county located in the U.S.
state of Texas
. In
2000, its population was 13,120. It is named for
Burr H. Duval, a
soldier in the
Texas Revolution who
died in the
Goliad Massacre.
The
seat of the county is San
Diego
.
Geography
According to the
U.S.
Census Bureau, the
county has a total area of 1,796 square miles
(4,651 km²), of which, 1,793 square miles
(4,643 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (8 km²)
of it (0.17%) is water.
Major highways
Adjacent counties
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 13,120
people, 4,350 households, and 3,266 families residing in the
county. The
population density
was 7 people per square mile (3/km²). There were 5,543 housing
units at an average density of 3 per square mile (1/km²). The
racial makeup of the county was 80.22%
White, 0.54%
Black or
African American, 0.53%
Native American, 0.11%
Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 15.46% from
other races, and 3.11%
from two or more races. 87.99% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 4,350 households out of which 36.80% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 53.20% were
married couples living together, 16.80% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 24.90% were
non-families. 22.90% of all households were made up of individuals
and 11.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.88 and the average family
size was 3.40.
In the county, the population was spread out with 29.50% under the
age of 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 20.60% from
45 to 64, and 14.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median
age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 100.70 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.90
males.
The median income for a household in the county was $22,416, and
the median income for a family was $26,014. Males had a median
income of $25,601 versus $16,250 for females. The
per capita income for the county was
$11,324. About 23.00% of families and 27.20% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including
35.90% of those under age 18 and 25.30% of those age 65 or
over.
Politics
Like much of heavily Hispanic South Texas, Duval County is a
Democratic
stronghold. The last Republican to carry the county was
Theodore Roosevelt in
1904. In the
1972 presidential
election George McGovern
received over 85% of the county's vote, which might be the highest
percentage of any county.
In the 2004 presidential
election, it went solidly for Democrat John F. Kerry of Massachusetts
, while George
W. Bush carried the state
as a whole by a wide margin. In the
2008 presidential
election Barack Obama received
74.8% of the county's vote. In all the Democratic candidate has
consistently received more than 70% of the county's vote since, at
least,
1992.
Duval County is historically notorious for corrupt
politics, particularly during the mid-20th century,
when it was largely controlled by the
political machine headed by
George Parr, known as the "Duke of Duval". The
historian J. Evetts
Haley ran for governor in 1956 with a threat that if elected he
would "lock up" Parr. He finished a distant fourth in the primary
balloting. Meanwhile, then state
Attorney General John Ben Shepperd brought some three
hundred state indictments against county and school
officials.
Communities
The Duval County Courthouse in San
Diego.
Cities
Unincorporated areas
References
- Geographie Electorale
- Statistics from David Leip's Atlas for
1972
- The New York Times Electoral Map (Zoom in on
Texas)
External links
(north)
(northeast)
(east)
(southeast)
(southwest)
(west)
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