Kaufman County, Texas

Kaufman County, Texas
The Kaufman County Courthouse in Kaufman
Location in the state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	February 1848
Named for	David Spangler Kaufman
Seat	Kaufman
Largest city	Terrell
Area
• Total	808 sq mi (2,093 km2)
• Land	781 sq mi (2,023 km2)
• Water	27 sq mi (70 km2), 3.3%
Population
• (2010)	103,350
• Density	131.4/sq mi (51/km²)
Congressional district	5th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.kaufman.tx.us

Kaufman County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 103,350.^[1] Its county seat is Kaufman.^[2] Both the county, established in 1848, and the city were named for David Spangler Kaufman, a diplomat and U.S. congressman from Texas who was the first Jewish person to serve in Congress from Texas.^[3]

Kaufman County is included in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Western artist Frank Reagh moved from Illinois to Kaufman County in 1876 to draw inspiration for his paintings such as The Approaching Herd (1902).^[4]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 808 square miles (2,090 km²), of which 781 square miles (2,020 km²) is land and 27 square miles (70 km²) (3.3%) is water.^[5] Located in the northeast portion of Texas, it is bounded on the southwest by Trinity River, and drained by the east fork of that stream.^[6]

Major highways

• Interstate 20
• U.S. Highway 80
• U.S. Highway 175
• State Highway 34
• State Highway 205
• State Highway 243

Adjacent counties

• Hunt County (north)
• Van Zandt County (east)
• Henderson County (south)
• Ellis County (southwest)
• Dallas County (west)
• Rockwall County (northwest)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	1,047		—
1860	3,936		275.9%
1870	6,895		75.2%
1880	15,448		124.0%
1890	21,598		39.8%
1900	33,376		54.5%
1910	35,323		5.8%
1920	41,276		16.9%
1930	40,905		−0.9%
1940	38,308		−6.3%
1950	31,170		−18.6%
1960	29,931		−4.0%
1970	32,392		8.2%
1980	39,015		20.4%
1990	52,220		33.8%
2000	71,313		36.6%
2010	103,350		44.9%
Est. 2012	106,753		3.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[7] 1850-2010[8] 2012 Estimate[1]

As of the census^[9] of 2000, there were 71,313 people, 24,367 households, and 19,225 families residing in the county. The population density was 91/sq mi (35/km²). There were 26,133 housing units at an average density of 33/sq mi (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 81.10% White, 10.53% Black or African American, 0.61% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 5.66% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. 11.11% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 24,367 households out of which 39.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.10% were married couples living together, 11.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.10% were non-families. 17.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.87 and the average family size was 3.24.

In the county, the population was spread out with 29.20% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 29.50% from 25 to 44, 22.40% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 97.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,783, and the median income for a family was $50,354. Males had a median income of $35,537 versus $26,494 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,827. About 7.80% of families and 10.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.30% of those under age 18 and 11.80% of those age 65 or over.

Media

Kaufman County is part of the Dallas/Fort Worth DMA. Local media outlets include: KDFW-TV, KXAS-TV, WFAA-TV, KTVT-TV, KERA-TV, KTXA-TV, KDFI-TV, KDAF-TV, KFWD-TV, and KDTX-TV. Other nearby stations that provide coverage for Kaufman County come from the Tyler/Longview/Jacksonville market and they include: KLTV, KYTX-TV, KFXK-TV, and KETK-TV.

Kaufman County is served by three newspapers: The Terrell Tribune; The Kaufman Herald; and the Forney Messenger. Forney, Texas, is also served by online news media outlet inForney.com who also covers breaking news for the county. A quarterly magazine called Kaufman County Life is produced by The Terrell Tribune. The Kemp and Mabank areas are included in coverage by The Monitor and Athens Review newspapers.

Law enforcement

The Kaufman County Sheriff's Office is the main police force in Kaufman County. Smaller cities depend on the Sheriff's Office along with the Texas Highway Patrol for law enforcement duties. District Attorney Mike McLelland, along with his wife, were found shot and killed in their home on March 30, 2013. In December 2012, Texas officials issued a statewide bulletin warning that the Aryan Brotherhood was "actively planning retaliation against law enforcement officials" who worked to prosecute the gang’s leadership.^[10] Two months earlier, Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was shot and killed outside the Kaufman County courthouse.^[11] On April 13, 2013, ex-justice of the peace Eric Williams was arrested for making terroristic threats to county officials via email. Hasse and McLelland had aggressively prosecuted Williams in a theft case, which resulted in the loss of Williams' job and law license.^[12] On April 17, his wife Kim Williams was arrested on capital murder charges in all three deaths.^[13] These arrests were not linked by officials to the Aryan Brotherhood.

Communities

Ables Springs (u) Combine † Cottonwood Crandall Dallas * Elmo (CDP)

Forney Grays Prairie Heartland (u) Kaufman Kemp Mabank**

Mesquite*** Oak Grove Oak Ridge Poetry (u) Post Oak Bend City Rosser

Scurry Seagoville**** Seven Points Talty Terrell Travis Ranch (CDP)

† - a part of Combine extends into Dallas County.

* - only a small portion of Dallas extends into Kaufman County.

** - a portion of Mabank extends into Henderson County.

*** - only a small portion of Mesquite extends into Kaufman County.

**** - only a small portion of Seagoville extends into Kaufman County.

(CDP) - Census-designated place.

(u) - unincorporated.

See also

• List of museums in North Texas
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Kaufman County, Texas
• Stuart Spitzer

References

Other sources

• Butler, Robert Richard History of Kaufman County, Texas (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1940)
• Keller, Mabel Covington History of Kaufman County, Texas (M.A. thesis, North Texas State College, 1950)
• Clausen, C. A. ed., The Lady with the Pen: Elise Wærenskjold in Texas (Northfield, Minnesota: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1961)

External links

• Kaufman County government's website

	Rockwall County	Hunt County
	Dallas County		Van Zandt County
	Kaufman County, Texas
	Ellis County	Henderson County

Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Counties Collin Dallas Denton Ellis Hood Hunt Johnson Kaufman Parker Rockwall Somervell Tarrant Wise Major cities Dallas Fort Worth Arlington Cities and towns 100k-300k Carrollton Denton Frisco Garland Grand Prairie Irving McKinney Mesquite Plano Richardson Cities and towns 25k-99k Allen Bedford Cedar Hill Cleburne The Colony Coppell DeSoto Duncanville Euless Farmers Branch Flower Mound Grapevine Haltom City Highland Village Hurst Keller Lancaster Lewisville Mansfield North Richland Hills Rockwall Rowlett Southlake Wylie Cities and towns 10k-25k Addison Balch Springs Benbrook Burleson Colleyville Corinth Ennis Forest Hill Forney Greenville Sachse Saginaw Seagoville Terrell University Park Watauga Waxahachie Weatherford White Settlement

Municipalities and communities of Kaufman County, Texas, United States County seat: Kaufman Cities Combine‡ Cottonwood Crandall Dallas‡ Forney Heath‡ Kaufman Mesquite‡ Seagoville‡ Seven Points‡ Talty Terrell Towns Kemp Mabank‡ Oak Grove Oak Ridge Post Oak Bend City Scurry Villages Grays Prairie Rosser CDPs Elmo Travis Ranch Unincorporated communities Ables Springs Elmo Heartland Poetry Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Counties of Texas 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: 32°36′N 96°17′W / 32.60°N 96.28°W / 32.60; -96.28