Cherokee County, Texas

Cherokee County, Texas
Location in the state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	July 13, 1846
Seat	Rusk
Largest city	Jacksonville
Area
• Total	1,062 sq mi (2,751 km2)
• Land	1,052 sq mi (2,725 km2)
• Water	10 sq mi (26 km2), 0.92%
Population
• (2010)	50,845
• Density	44/sq mi (17/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.cherokee.tx.us

Cherokee Veterans Monument in Jacksonville, Texas

Cherokee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It was named for the Cherokee Indians, who lived in the area before being expelled in 1839. Rusk, the county seat, is 130 miles southeast of Dallas and 160 miles north of Houston. As of the 2010 census, its population was 50,845 .^[1] The county seat is Rusk.^[2]

History

Native Americans

Caddo Mounds at the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site in Cherokee County

The Hasinai group of the Caddo tribe built a village in the area about 800 A.D.^{[3] [4]} and continued to live in the area until the 1830s, when they migrated to the Brazos River. The Federal Government moved them to the Brazos Indian Reservation in 1855 and later to Oklahoma.

The Cherokees, Delaware, Shawnee, and Kickapoo, began settling in the area circa 1820. The Cherokee tried unsuccessfully to gain a grant to their own land from the Mexican government. Sam Houston, adopted son of Chief Oolooteka (John Jolly) of the Cherokee, negotiated the January 14, 1836 treaty between Chief Bowl^[5] of the Cherokees and the Republic of Texas.^[6][7] On December 16, 1837, the Texas Senate declared the treaty null and void,^[8] and continued further encroachment of Cherokee lands. On October 5, 1838, Indians massacred members of the Isaac Killough family^{[9] [10]} at their farm northwest of the site of present Jacksonville, leading to the Cherokee War of 1839 and the expulsion of all Indians from the county.

Early exploration and settlers

Domingo Terán de los Ríos^[11] and Father Damián Massanet^[12] explored the area on behalf of Spain in 1691. Louis Juchereau de St. Denis^[13] began trading with the Hasinais in 1705. Nuestro Padre San Francisco de los Tejas Mission^[14] was originally established in 1690 but was re-established in 1716 by Captain Domingo Ramon. It was abandoned again because of French incursions and re-established in 1721 by the Marques de San Miguel de Aguyao.

In 1826, empresario David G. Burnet received a grant from the Coahuila y Tejas legislature to settle 300 families.^[15] then. The settlers were mostly from the southern states and brought with that lifestyle with them. By contracting how many families each grantee could settle, the government sought to have some control over colonization.

County established and growth

Cherokee County was formed from land given by Nacogdoches County in 1846.^[16] It was organized the same year. Rusk became the county seat.

Cherokee County voted in favor of secession from the Union.

In 1872, the International – Great Northern Railroad^[17] caused Jacksonville^[18] to relocate two miles east to be near the tracks. The Kansas and Gulf Short Line Railway^[19] built north-to-south through the county between 1882-1885. The Texas and New Orleans Railroad^[20] in 1905, and the Texas State Railroad^[21] in 1910 both gave rise to new county towns along their tracks.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,062 statute miles (1,709 km), of which 1,053 square miles (2,730 km²) is land and 9 square miles (23 km²) (0.9%) is water.^[22]

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 69
• U.S. Highway 79
• U.S. Highway 84
• U.S. Highway 175
• State Highway 21
• State Highway 110
• State Highway 135
• State Highway 204
• State Highway 294

Adjacent counties

• Smith County (north)
• Rusk County (northeast)
• Nacogdoches County (east)
• Angelina County (southeast)
• Houston County (southwest)
• Anderson County (west)
• Henderson County (northwest)

National protected area

• Neches River National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

As of the census^[24] of 2000, there were 46,659 people, 16,651 households, and 12,105 families residing in the county. The population density was 44 people per square mile (17/km²). There were 19,173 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 74.34% White, 15.96% Black or African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 7.43% from other races, and 1.34% from two or more races. 13.24% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 16,651 households out of which 33.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.70% were married couples living together, 12.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.30% were non-families. 24.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county, the population was spread out with 26.30% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 101.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $29,313, and the median income for a family was $34,750. Males had a median income of $26,410 versus $19,788 for females. The per capita income for the county was $13,980. About 13.70% of families and 17.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.30% of those under age 18 and 15.10% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Cherokee County, Texas
• Chuck Hopson, Texas state representative from Cherokee County

References

External links

• Cherokee County in Handbook of Texas Online at the University of Texas
• Historic Cherokee County materials, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
• Cherokee County Sons of Confederate Veterans

	Henderson County	Smith County	Rusk County
	Anderson County		Nacogdoches County
	Cherokee County, Texas
	Houston County		Angelina County

v t e Municipalities and communities of Cherokee County, Texas, United States County seat: Rusk Cities Gallatin Jacksonville New Summerfield Reklaw‡ Rusk Troup‡ Towns Alto Bullard‡ Cuney Wells CDP Shadybrook Other unincorporated communities Atoy Concord Cove Springs Craft Dialville Forest Fry's Gap Ironton Larissa Linwood Maydelle Mixon Mount Selman Oakland Pierces Chapel Ponta Reese Salem Tecula Turney Weeping Mary Ghost towns Etna Lone Star New Birmingham Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e Texas counties Anderson Andrews Angelina Aransas Archer Armstrong Atascosa Austin Bailey Bandera Bastrop Baylor Bee Bell Bexar Blanco Borden Bosque Bowie Brazoria Brazos Brewster Briscoe Brooks Brown Burleson Burnet Caldwell Calhoun Callahan Cameron Camp Carson Cass Castro Chambers Cherokee Childress Clay Cochran Coke Coleman Collin Collingsworth Colorado Comal Comanche Concho Cooke Coryell Cottle Crane Crockett Crosby Culberson Dallam Dallas Dawson Deaf Smith Delta Denton DeWitt Dickens Dimmit Donley Duval Eastland Ector Edwards Ellis El Paso Erath Falls Fannin Fayette Fisher Floyd Foard Fort Bend Franklin Freestone Frio Gaines Galveston Garza Gillespie Glasscock Goliad Gonzales Gray Grayson Gregg Grimes Guadalupe Hale Hall Hamilton Hansford Hardeman Hardin Harris Harrison Hartley Haskell Hays Hemphill Henderson Hidalgo Hill Hockley Hood Hopkins Houston Howard Hudspeth Hunt Hutchinson Irion Jack Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jim Hogg Jim Wells Johnson Jones Karnes Kaufman Kendall Kenedy Kent Kerr Kimble King Kinney Kleberg Knox Lamar Lamb Lampasas La Salle Lavaca Lee Leon Liberty Limestone Lipscomb Live Oak Llano Loving Lubbock Lynn Madison Marion Martin Mason Matagorda Maverick McCulloch McLennan McMullen Medina Menard Midland Milam Mills Mitchell Montague Montgomery Moore Morris Motley Nacogdoches Navarro Newton Nolan Nueces Ochiltree Oldham Orange Palo Pinto Panola Parker Parmer Pecos Polk Potter Presidio Rains Randall Reagan Real Red River Reeves Refugio Roberts Robertson Rockwall Runnels Rusk Sabine San Augustine San Jacinto San Patricio San Saba Schleicher Scurry Shackelford Shelby Sherman Smith Somervell Starr Stephens Sterling Stonewall Sutton Swisher Tarrant Taylor Terrell Terry Throckmorton Titus Tom Green Travis Trinity Tyler Upshur Upton Uvalde Val Verde Van Zandt Victoria Walker Waller Ward Washington Webb Wharton Wheeler Wichita Wilbarger Willacy Williamson Wilson Winkler Wise Wood Yoakum Young Zapata Zavala

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Coordinates: 31°50′N 95°10′W / 31.84°N 95.17°W / 31.84; -95.17