|
Welcome to Texas Genealogy Trails!
*Volunteers dedicated to putting free data online.*
This 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]
|
|
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. |
 |
|
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. |
|
Cities and towns |
Bridge City
Little Cypress
Mauriceville
Orange
Orangefield
|
Pine Forest
Pinehurst
Rose City
Vidor
West Orange
|
|
|
|
ONLINE DATA |
|
 |
|
Mockingbird
State Bird
|
  |
 
 |
|
If you have information that you'd
like to share about any town, family, county or subject,
please send it to us and we'll make sure it gets posted to
the right county. We are looking for Census, Births,
Deaths, Marriages, Biographies, Obituaries, and Newspaper
Stories,
Email
me |
|
|
Click
here to
select another county
|
Surrounding Counties
|
|
|
Back to the TEXAS
GENEALOGY TRAILS Main site
|
|
Visit the national site of GENEALOGY TRAILS
|
|
Copyright ©2006 Genealogy Trails
All data on this website is © Copyright 2006 by Genealogy Trails with full rights reserved for original submitters.
|
|