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Photo Courtesy of Texas Highways
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Welcome to Texas Genealogy Trails!
*Volunteers dedicated to putting free data online.*
The Dimmit County Website is available for adoption.
If interested in joining our group, view our Volunteer Information Page and
contact Kim.
[Basic webpage design knowledge and a desire to transcribe data is
required]
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Dimmit County is named for Philip Dimmitt, a major figure in
the Texas Revolution. The reason the county name differs is
due to the fact that the bill creating the county misspelled
Dimmitt's name. Dimmit County is not to be confused with the
city of Dimmitt, located approximately 520 miles north in
Castro County. |
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Between the Texas Revolution and the Mexican Warq (1836-46),
most of Dimmit County lay in the disputed area between the Rio
Grande and the Nueces River. Since neither the Republic of
Texas nor the Mexican government could establish control over
this strip of contested land, known at the time as Wild Horse
Desert or El Desierto Muerto (Dead Desert), it became a haven
for desperate characters. In 1858, Dimmit County was
officially formed from parts of Bexar, Webb, Maverick, and
Uvalde Counties. Dangers posed by outlaws and unfriendly
Indians, however, deterred settlement in the county until
after the Civil War. The first permanent settlement in Dimmit
County, Carrizo Springs, was founded in 1865 by a group of
fifteen families from Atascosa County.
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The county
was formally organized in 1880 with Carrizo Springs as county
seat. That same year, Levi English donated land for a county
courthouse, schools, and churches in the town. The Carrizo
Springs Javelin,
the county's only newspaper, was established in 1884. By 1885
the county seat was described as a "flourishing town" with two
churches, a grocery, a livery stable, and a harness and boot
shop.
Cities
Asherton
Big Wells
Carrizo Springs
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