Bowie County, Texas

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Bowie County (Template:IPAc-en Script error: No such module "Respell".[1]) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. Its legal county seat is Boston, though its courthouse is located in New Boston.[2] As of the 2020 census, the population was 92,893.[3] Bowie County is part of the Texarkana metropolitan statistical area. The county is named for James Bowie, the legendary knife fighter who died at the Battle of the Alamo.[4]

History

Native Americans

The farming Caddoan Mississippian culture dates as early as the Late Archaic Period 1500 BCE in Bowie County.[5] The Hernando de Soto expedition of 1541 resulted in violent encounters. Spanish and French missionaries brought smallpox, measles malaria, and influenza epidemics.[6] Eventually, these issues and problems with the Osage, forced the Caddo to abandon their homelands. Settlers had peaceful relations with the 19th century Shawnee, Delaware and Kickapoo in the area.

Explorations and county established

French explorer Jean Baptiste Bénard de La Harpe founded the military fort Le Poste des Cadodaquious in 1719.[7] The fort remained in continuous use until 1770. The Red River Expedition of 1806 which passed through Bowie County,[8] headed by Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis, was of great diplomatic and economic importance to President Thomas Jefferson. Bowie County was established in December 1840 and reduced to its present size in 1846. DeKalb was the temporary county seat, with Boston becoming the permanent county seat in 1841.[9][10]

Bowie County, in the years leading up to the American Civil War, was settled mostly by Southerners who brought their slave labor to work the cotton fields. By 1860, slaves outnumbered whites 2,651 to 2,401. The county voted 208–15 in favor of secession from the Union.[11] While Bowie was never a battlefield in that war, it was occupied during Reconstruction. Between 1860 and 1870, the population declined. The occupation, and the new legal equality of blacks, became a hostile situation that fostered Cullen Baker.

Cullen Montgomery Baker (b. circa 1835 – d. 1869)[12] was a twice-widowed, mean-spirited drunk who killed his first man before he was 20. When Thomas Orr married Baker's late wife's sister, thereby denying Baker that opportunity, Baker attempted to hang Orr. Legends abound as to his activities in Bowie and Cass Counties, including a rumored tie to the Ku Klux Klan. His exploits turned him into a folk hero dubbed "The Swamp Fox of the Sulphur River".[13][14] He was a Confederate States Army veteran who joined two units, designated as a deserter from the first, and receiving a disability discharge from the second.[15] Reconstruction allowed him to focus his anger toward what many at the time believed was a Union intrusion into their lives. Baker and his gang conducted a vicious rampage against citizens he perceived as being on the wrong side of the black labor issue, at William G. Kirkman and the Freedman's Bureau in Bowie County, and at the soldiers of the Union occupation. Kirkman unsuccessfully pursued Baker, killing one of Baker's men in the second attempt. Like Swamp Fox Francis Marion, Baker always managed to elude capture, often with the help of local citizens. Kirkland was murdered by "person or persons unknown",[11] but Baker boasted of having done the deed. In December 1869, Thomas Orr and a group of neighbors killed Baker.[15] A local legend has it the deed was accomplished with strychnine-laced whiskey.

When the Texas and Pacific Railway was constructed through the county, a new town named Texarkana was founded.[16][17]

Bowie was hit hard by the Great Depression. Measurable relief came late when the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant was established in 1942. The base was active until 2009.[18] The Red River Army Depot,[19] opened in 1941, remains active. The two installations occupied almost Script error: No such module "convert". and provided job opportunities for thousands.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Script error: No such module "convert"., of which Script error: No such module "convert". is land and Script error: No such module "convert". (4.1%) is covered by water.[20]

Bowie County, Texas is one of only three counties in Texas to border two other U.S. states (the others being Dallam and Cass). Bowie County forms part of the tripoint of Texas-Oklahoma-Arkansas.

Adjacent counties

Communities

Cities

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Unincorporated communities

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Ghost towns

Transportation

Major highways present in Bowie County include the following:

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Demographics

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Historical population
CensusPop.Template:Sronly%±
18502,912—
18605,052Script error: No such module "String".%
18704,684Script error: No such module "String".%
188010,965Script error: No such module "String".%
189020,267Script error: No such module "String".%
190026,676Script error: No such module "String".%
191034,827Script error: No such module "String".%
192039,472Script error: No such module "String".%
193048,563Script error: No such module "String".%
194050,208Script error: No such module "String".%
195061,966Script error: No such module "String".%
196059,971Script error: No such module "String".%
197067,813Script error: No such module "String".%
198075,301Script error: No such module "String".%
199081,665Script error: No such module "String".%
200089,306Script error: No such module "String".%
201092,565Script error: No such module "String".%
202092,893Script error: No such module "String".%
2024 (est.)91,992[21]Script error: No such module "String".%
U.S. Decennial Census[22]
1850–2010[23] 2010–2020[24]

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Bowie County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition
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Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 2000[25] Pop 2010[26] Pop 2020[24] % 2000 % 2010 % 2020
White alone (NH) 62,712 61,343 55,855 70.22% 66.27% 60.13%
Black or African American alone (NH) 20,787 22,230 23,084 23.28% 24.02% 24.85%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) 487 572 554 0.55% 0.62% 0.60%
Asian alone (NH) 372 721 1,082 0.42% 0.78% 1.16%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 33 45 69 0.04% 0.05% 0.07%
Other race (NH) 50 88 332 0.06% 0.10% 0.36%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) 873 1,504 4,315 0.98% 1.62% 4.65%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3,992 6,062 7,602 4.47% 6.55% 8.18%
Total 89,306 92,565 92,893 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

As of the census of 2000,[27] 89,306 people, 33,058 households, and 23,438 families resided in the county. The population density was Script error: No such module "convert".. The 36,463 housing units averaged Script error: No such module "convert".. The racial makeup of the county was 73.26% White, 23.42% Black or African American, 0.58% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.12% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. About 4.47% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. In 2020, its population increased to 92,893;[3] the racial and ethnic makeup of the county transitioned to 60.13% non-Hispanic white, 24.85% Black or African American, 0.60% American Indian or Alaska Native, 1.16% Asian alone, 0.7% Pacific Islander, 0.36% some other race or ethnicity, 4.65% multiracial, and 8.18% Hispanic or Latino American of any race.[24]

Government and politics

Barry Telford Unit, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison for men, is in an unincorporated area of the county, near New Boston.[28] Federal Correctional Institution, Texarkana, is a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in unincorporated Bowie County, near Texarkana, Texas.[29][30]

Bowie County is no longer one of the seven dry counties in the state of Texas. Both the city of Nash and the city of Texarkana (on November 6, 2013, and November 5, 2014, respectively)[31][32] have passed laws that allow the sale of beer and wine.

Politics

Bowie County had voting patterns similar to the Solid South up until 1976. The county has consistently voted for the GOP in each 21st century president election. The last Democrat to win this county was Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas, with which the county shares the Texarkana metropolitan area, in both of his national victories. Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFoot Template:U.S. SenHead Template:U.S. SenRow Template:U.S. SenFoot

Education

These school districts serve Bowie County:[33]

All of Bowie County is in the service area and taxation area of Texarkana College.[34]

Notable people

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  3. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". UT Texas at Austin
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Oklahoma Historical Society
  7. ↑ Britton, Morris L: Le Poste des Cadodaquious from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved May 14, 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  8. ↑ Flores, Dan L.: Red River Expedition from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved May 14, 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC.
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC.
  11. ↑ a b Harper Jr., Cecil: Bowie County from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved May 14, 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Sulphur River, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved May 14, 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ a b Crouch, Barry A: Cullen Montgomery Baker from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved May 14, 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Texas Escapes – Blueprints For Travel, LLC.
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". =United States Army
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". GlobalSecurity.org
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ "Telford TO", Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Accessed January 8, 2014
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". - Text list of districts
  34. ↑ Texas Education Code, "Sec. 130.203. TEXARKANA COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA."
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

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