Travis County, Texas

Travis County, Texas
Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse in Austin.
Seal
Location in the state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1840
Named for	William B. Travis
Seat	Austin
Largest city	Austin
Area
• Total	1,023 sq mi (2,650 km2)
• Land	990 sq mi (2,564 km2)
• Water	33 sq mi (85 km2), 3.2%
Population (Est.)
• (2012)	1,095,584
• Density	1,108/sq mi (427.7/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.traviscountytx.gov

Travis County is a county located in south central Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,024,266,^[1] making it the fifth most populous county in Texas. The county has gained more than 400,000 residents since 1990. Its county seat is Austin,^[2] the capital of Texas. The county is named in honor of William Barret Travis, the commander of the Republic of Texas forces at the Battle of the Alamo. It is located along the Balcones Fault, the boundary between the Edwards Plateau to the west and the Blackland Prairie to the east.

Travis County is part of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area.

History

• 8000 b.c. Early native American inhabitants include Tonkawa, Lipan Apache, Comanche, Kiowa.^[3]

• 1519-1685 Hernando Cortez and Alonso Álvarez de Pineda claim Texas for Spain.

• 1685-1690 France plants its flag on Texas soil, but departs after only five years.^[4]

• 1691 Domingo Terán de los Ríos makes an inspection tour for Spain to East Texas.

• 1730 The Spanish relocate missions of San Francisco de los Neches, Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de los Hasinai, and San José de los Nazonis near Barton Springs.^[5]

• 1821 Mexico claims its independence from Spain. Anglos from the north settle in Texas and claim Mexican citizenship.

• 1827 Mexican government grants Stephen F. Austin his third "Little Colony," headquartered at Mina (Bastrop) which gave offshoot to Travis County.

• 1829, September 15 - Mexican President Vicente Ramon Guerrero, of Spanish, African and Native American descent, emancipates all slaves within the Republic of Mexico:^[6][7]

1st - Slavery is abolished in the republic.

2nd - Consequently, those who have been until now considered slaves are free.

3rd - When the circumstances of the treasury may permit, the owners of the slaves will be indemnified in the mode that the laws may provide. And in order that every part of this decree may be fully complied with, let it be printed, published, and circulated.

Given at the Federal Palace of Mexico, the 15th of September, 1829.

Vicente Guerrero To José María Bocanegra

• 1830s Josiah and Mathias Wilbarger, Reuben Hornsby, Jacob M. Harrell, and John F. Webber become early settlers.

• 1836

March 2 - Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico establishes the Republic of Texas.

March 6 - The Alamo falls.

April 21–22 - Battle of San Jacinto, Antonio López de Santa Anna captured.

May 14 - Santa Anna signs the Treaties of Velasco.

December 27 - Stephen F. Austin dies at the age of 43.^[8]

• 1840

Congress of the Republic of Texas chooses Waterloo as the site of the new capital, renames it Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin.

Congress establishes Travis County, naming it in honor of William B. Travis. Austin is the county seat.

• 1842

Sam Houston moves the government of the Republic of Texas from Austin to Houston when Mexican troops invaded San Antonio.

The Texas Archives War erupts when Houston tries to also move the archives.

• 1845

October, Texas government returns to Austin.

December 29 - Texas Annexation by the United States

• 1846, May 13 - The United States Congress officially declares war on Mexico.

• 1848, February 2 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ends the Mexican-American War.

• 1852 The Austin Railroad Association established to encourage railroad construction to the area.

• 1854 Texas Governor's Mansion built in Austin. Architect Abner Cook.

• 1856 Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired established.

• 1860 Population 4,931 whites, 3,136 slaves, 13 free blacks.

• 1861

Travis County votes against secession from the Union.

February 1 - Texas secedes from the Union.

March 2 - Texas joins the Confederate States of America.

• 1863, January 1 – The Emancipation Proclamation.^[9]

• 1865

April 9 – Robert E. Lee formally surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House.

April 15 – President Abraham Lincoln dies of a head wound inflicted by assassin John Wilkes Booth.

June 19 – Major General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston to enforce the emancipation of all slaves. It is the first time African Americans in Texas know of the Emancipation. The date becomes celebrated annually in Texas as Juneteenth, and later as an official state holiday known as Emancipation Day.^[10]

December 6 – The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits slavery.

• 1870, March 30 - The United States Congress readmits Texas into the Union.

• 1871 Houston and Texas Central Railway completes track to Austin.

• 1881 International and Great Northern Railroad completes track from Austin to Laredo.

• 1882 The Austin and Northwestern Railroad lay track between Austin and Burnet.

• 1883 University of Texas at Austin becomes the flagship for the University of Texas System.

• 1885 Texas State Capitol built of pink granite. Renaissance Revival architecture. Architect Elijah E. Myers.

• 1902 Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad line arrives in Travis County.

• 1942 Bergstrom Air Force Base commissioned, named in honor of Captain John August Earl Bergstrom, first Austinite killed in World War II.

• 1950’s-1960’s Desegregation opens doors to minorities achievement and integration into the mainstream establishment in the county.

• 1951 Texas Instruments founded.

• 1955 Tracor, Incorporated headquarters in Austin.

• 1957 IBM opens its Austin branch.

• 1966 Charles Whitman murders his wife and mother in Austin. He then climbs to the University of Texas tower and begins a sniper attack, killing 14 people and injuring 32 others before being shot and killed by Austin Police and Texas Rangers.

• 1971 Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum dedicated on the University of Texas at Austin campus.

• 1974 Motorola opens in Austin.

• 1983 Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation headquarters in Austin.

• 1984 Michael Dell founds Dell Computers while a student at University of Texas at Austin.

• 1987 Sematech headquarters in Austin.

• 1988 3M opens Research and Development Center in Austin

• 2003

February 1 - Space Shuttle Columbia breaks apart over Texas during re-entry.

September 11, Memorial to 9-11 World Trade Center victims is dedicated at the Texas State Cemetery.^[11]

• 2010, February 18 - Joseph Andrew Stack III, flying his Piper Cherokee PA-28-236 (Aircraft registration: N2889D) plane, crashes into Building I of the Echelon office complex in northwest Austin in a suicide attack against the Internal Revenue Service.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,023 square miles (2,650 km²), of which 990 square miles (2,600 km²) is land and 31 square miles (80 km²) (3.2%) is water.^[12]

Major highways

• Interstate 35
• U.S. Highway 183
• U.S. Highway 290
• State Highway 45
• State Highway 71
• State Highway 130
• State Highway Loop 1

Adjacent counties

• Williamson County (north)
• Bastrop County (east)
• Caldwell County (south)
• Hays County (southwest)
• Blanco County (west)
• Burnet County (northwest)

National protected area

• Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	3,138		—
1860	8,080		157.5%
1870	13,153		62.8%
1880	27,028		105.5%
1890	36,322		34.4%
1900	47,386		30.5%
1910	55,620		17.4%
1920	57,616		3.6%
1930	77,777		35.0%
1940	111,053		42.8%
1950	160,980		45.0%
1960	212,136		31.8%
1970	295,516		39.3%
1980	419,573		42.0%
1990	576,407		37.4%
2000	812,280		40.9%
2010	1,024,266		26.1%
Est. 2012	1,095,584		7.0%
U.S. Decennial Census[13] 1850-2010[14] 2012 Estimate[1]

According to the census^[15] of 2010, there were 1,024,266 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile (317/km²). There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile (131/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 68.21% White, 9.26% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 4.47% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 14.56% other races, and 2.85% from two or more races. 28.20% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 12.0% were of German, 7.7% English, 6.6% Irish and 5.5% American ancestry according to Census 2000. English is the sole language spoken at home by 71.42% of the population age 5 or over, while 22.35% speak Spanish, and a Chinese language (including Mandarin, Taiwanese, and Cantonese) is spoken by 1.05%.^[16]

In 2000 there were 320,766 households, of which 29.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.60% were married couples living together, 10.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.70% were non-families. 30.10% of all households were composed of individuals and 4.40% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.15.

The population's age distribution was 23.80% under the age of 18, 14.70% from 18 to 24, 36.50% from 25 to 44, 18.20% from 45 to 64, and 6.70% age 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 104.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.50 males.

The median income per household in the county was $46,761, and the median income per family was $58,555. Males had a median income of $37,298 versus $30,452 for females. The per capita income in the county was $25,883. About 7.70% of families and 12.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.90% of those under age 18 and 7.60% of those age 65 or over.

Travis County, along with other Texas counties, has one of the nation's highest property tax rates. In 2009, the county was ranked 88th in the nation for property taxes as percentage of the homes value on owner occupied housing.^[17] Travis County also ranked in the top 100 for amount of property taxes paid and for percentage of taxes of income. The high property tax rate is mostly due to Texas having no income tax.

Culture

The county is politically liberal. It was the only county in Texas that voted against the Proposition 2 constitutional amendment banning gay marriages in 2005.

Corrections

The Travis County Jail and the Travis County Criminal Justice Center are located in Downtown Austin.^[18][19] The Travis County Correctional Complex is located in an unincorporated area in Travis County, next to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.^[20]

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the Travis County Unit, a state jail for men, in eastern Austin.^[21]

Communities

Cities, towns, and villages

Austin Bee Cave Briarcliff Creedmoor Elgin (partial)

Jonestown Lago Vista Lakeway Manor Pflugerville

Point Venture Rollingwood Round Rock (partial) San Leanna Sunset Valley

The Hills Volente Webberville West Lake Hills

Census-designated places

Anderson Mill Barton Creek Garfield Hudson Bend

Jollyville Lost Creek Onion Creek

Shady Hollow Wells Branch Windemere

Unincorporated areas

Bluff Springs Cele Del Valle Elroy Kimbro

Littig Lund Manchaca Marshall Ford

McNeil New Sweden Oak Hill Pilot Knob

See also

• Austin Bat Cave (non-profit educational org)
• List of museums in Central Texas
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Travis County, Texas

References

External links

• Travis County Government website
• Travis County from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Travis County Law Library
• Travis County, Texas on the Open Directory Project

	Burnet County	Williamson County
	Blanco County		Bastrop County
	Travis County, Texas
	Hays County	Caldwell County

v t e Municipalities and communities of Travis County, Texas, United States County seat: Austin Cities Austin‡ Bee Cave Cedar Park‡ Creedmoor Elgin‡ Jonestown Lago Vista Lakeway Leander‡ Manor Mustang Ridge‡ Pflugerville‡ Rollingwood Round Rock‡ Sunset Valley West Lake Hills Villages Briarcliff Point Venture San Leanna The Hills Volente Webberville CDPs Barton Creek Garfield Hornsby Bend Hudson Bend Jollyville‡ Lost Creek Manchaca Shady Hollow Wells Branch Windemere Other unincorporated communities Bluff Springs Cele Del Valle Elroy Kimbro Littig Lund Manda Marshall Ford McNeil New Sweden Pilot Knob Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos Central city Austin Satellite cities Cedar Park Georgetown Pflugerville Round Rock San Marcos Other communities Bastrop Buda Burnet Elgin Hudson Bend Hutto Jollyville Kyle Lago Vista Leander Lakeway Lockhart Lost Creek Luling Manor Marble Falls Taylor Smithville Wells Branch West Lake Hills Wimberley Windemere Wyldwood Counties MSA/CSA Bastrop Burnet Caldwell Hays Travis Williamson Outlying Blanco Burleson Colorado Fayette Gillespie Lee Llano Milam Washington Parks and preserves Balcones Canyonlands Bastrop Emma Long Enchanted Rock Hippie Hollow Indiangrass Longhorn Cavern McKinney Falls Mount Bonnell Onion Creek Pedernales Falls John Stokes Wild Basin Zilker Geography Austin Chalk Balcones Fault Edwards Aquifer Edwards Plateau Highland Lakes Hill Country Llano Uplift Bodies of water Barton Creek Barton Springs Colorado River Granger Lake Lady Bird Lake Lake Austin Lake Georgetown Lake Marble Falls Lake Travis Lake Walter E. Long Pedernales River San Gabriel River San Marcos River Transportation Capital Area Rural Transportation System

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: 30°20′N 97°47′W / 30.33°N 97.78°W / 30.33; -97.78