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Welcome to Texas Genealogy Trails!
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| Orange County was carved from Jefferson County on January 5, 1852, and its county seat was located at Madison. Confusion with Madisonville prompted the name change to Orange in 1858 at the time of the town's incorporation. Orange had been known by a variety of names; Strong's Bluff, Huntley, Green's Bluff, Jefferson, and Madison. Most sources cite the orange grove planted by early settlers at the mouth of the Sabine River for explanation of the town's name. | ||||||||||||
| County growth centered around Orange. Because of its proximity to the Gulf and serving as gateway to Texas and the West, the city quickly developed as both a maritime and cultural center. Although only a small percentage of land was devoted to cotton farming, by 1861 over 20,000 bales of cotton were shipped from this growing port city. In 1857 the population was 1,277, including 282 slaves and twenty-six freed blacks. True to its predominantly southern majority, Orange County voters supported the Democratic party in the elections just prior to the Civil War. |
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| Orange mustered several military units during the Civil War, including the Orange Greys and the Orange Light Guard. A nearby naval encounter in 1863, the battle of Sabine Pass, successfully halted the Union army's advance into Texas. Orange survived the war intact but was decimated only five months after the armistice, when a major hurricane hit the town on September 13, 1865. The county population in 1870 dropped to 1,255. | ||||||||||||
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Bridge City |
Pine Forest |
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