TERRELL COUNTY
Lying in the Big Bend region of southwest Texas, Terrell County is bordered by Brewster County (site of Big Bend National Park) and Pecos, Crockett, and Val Verde Counties and, on the south, by Mexico. Terrell County spans 2,358 semi-mountainous square miles that lie between 1,400 and 3,700 feet above sea level and are covered by limestone soils. January low temperatures average 29 as compared to July highs of 92 while average annual rainfall is about 14 inches. The Texas State Demographer, regardless of which sets of assumptions are used, foresees little change in the next two decades from the county’s 2000 population of 1,081. Population peaked around 1950 at 3,200. About four-fifths of the county’s current inhabitants reside in the county seat of Sanderson which is sometimes called the “Gateway to Big Bend.”
Evidence of very early Indian habitation is found in cave paintings called pictographs found at several sites along with arrowheads and other artifacts of Native
Americans. Spanish explorers are believed to have crossed the area as early as the sixteenth century. The United States Army took camel caravans across what is now Terrell County in 1959-1860 as part of an experiment testing the adaptability of the desert animal to the American Southwest. The county, named after a Confederate general, was part of Pecos County from 1871 to 1905. ,
Mohair and wool are the county’s most important agricultural products. Oil and gas production are also important economic activities. The railroad played a major part in the county’s early years.
A major flood struck Sanderson in 1965 killing 28 people. In the 1980’s, the federal government engaged in a major flood-control project with a number of dams built in the county.