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Maverick County is a
county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was
47,297. Its county seat is Eagle Pass. Maverick County is named for
Samuel Maverick, cattleman and state legislator. |
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Although the
county was established in 1856 it was not until September 4, 1871, that
it was officially organized. New ranches were established by Mike
Wipff, Frank Lehmann, Patrick Thomson, and John Towns following the
organization of the county. Telegraph communication reached Eagle Pass
in November of 1875 with the completion of a military line between Fort
Clark and Fort Duncan. The historic Maverick County Courthouse was
completed by pioneer builder William Hausser on April 4, 1885, at a
cost of $20,489. The courthouse, site of the celebrated Dick Duncan
murder trial in 1889, exhibits a modified Gothic architecture with high
windows and an overall Spanish fortress appearance. This unique
structure was declared a Texas historic landmark in September 1971. The
population of the county was 1,951 in 1870 and 2,967 in 1880. In 1870
thirty-nine farms in Maverick County averaged three acres in size. By
1880 thirty farms and ranches averaged 9,418 acres; only two of the
farms were over 1,000 acres, indicating that the majority of farm
acreage was concentrated in one or two very large ranches. The
concentration of farm and ranch lands in a few hands ended by 1890; of
the ninety farms in Maverick County that year twenty-three were over
1,000 acres. By 1900 there were ninety-one farms and ranches, with
twenty-three over 1,000 acres, and the average farm size reached a
historic high of 36,743 acres. Ranchers raised sheep (111,240 in 1880
and 149,310 in 1890) and cattle (37,058 in 1890 and 40,083 in 1900).
During the decade following the turn of the century the number of
livestock plummeted; cattle numbers dropped from 40,083 in 1900 to
13,866 by 1910, and sheep fell from 149,310 to 14,070 in 1900. Cattle
numbers remained low throughout the first half of the twentieth century
before reaching its highest number of the century with 31,568 in 1959.
In 1971, 750,000 acres in the county were devoted to ranching, and from
15,000 to 20,000 cattle were shipped each year. |
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