DUVAL COUNTY
Duval County, about 50 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and 73 miles north of the Rio Grande River, has an area of about 1,796 square miles. Its nearly level to rolling terrain, comprised of sandy and loam soils, ranges from about 250 to 800 feet above sea level. Its weather is typical of the region with an average January minimum of 41 and a mean July high of 96. Rainfall averages 25 inches per year. Duval County’s population, almost 90 percent Hispanic, is projected to expand from a 2000 total of 13,120 to about 15,000 by 2020 (Texas State Demographer, mid-range assumptions). San Diego, which is both the largest town--population about 5,000--and the county seat, is located at the intersection of State Highways 44 and 359.
The early Coahuiltecan Indians were displaced by the Comanches. Mexican settlement began in 1812. The county was created in 1858 from parts of Nueces, Live Oak, and Starr Counties but was not organized until 1876. Duval County’s colorful early history includes the cattle rustler Alberto Garza, whose band of about 60 outlaws was routed by citizens of San Diego in 1873, and the “Great Raid of 1878” when Indians massacred a number of settlers.
Duval County was the leading sheep raising county in Texas during the 1870’s with as many as 400,000 sheep. However, a plague and a fall in wool prices wiped out much of the sheep industry during the last part of the 19th century. Today the primary agricultural pursuits are beef cattle, grains, cotton, and vegetables. The county experienced an oil boom around 1940 with production reaching about 20 million barrels per year and, as a result, the population rose above 20,000. However, depletion of the oil fields cut production to only about 3 million barrels by 1988.