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| Maverick County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was
47,297. Its county seat is Eagle Pass. Maverick County is named for Samuel Maverick, cattleman and state legislator.
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Although the county was established in 1856 it was not until September 4, 1871,
that it was officially organized. New ranches were established by Mike Wipff, Frank Lehmann, Patrick Thomson, and
John Towns following the organization of the county. Telegraph communication reached Eagle Pass in November of
1875 with the completion of a military line between Fort Clark and Fort Duncan. The historic Maverick County Courthouse
was completed by pioneer builder William Hausser on April 4, 1885, at a cost of $20,489. The courthouse, site of
the celebrated Dick Duncan murder trial in 1889, exhibits a modified Gothic architecture with high windows and
an overall Spanish fortress appearance. This unique structure was declared a Texas historic landmark in September
1971. The population of the county was 1,951 in 1870 and 2,967 in 1880. In 1870 thirty-nine farms in Maverick County
averaged three acres in size. By 1880 thirty farms and ranches averaged 9,418 acres; only two of the farms were
over 1,000 acres, indicating that the majority of farm acreage was concentrated in one or two very large ranches.
The concentration of farm and ranch lands in a few hands ended by 1890; of the ninety farms in Maverick County
that year twenty-three were over 1,000 acres. By 1900 there were ninety-one farms and ranches, with twenty-three
over 1,000 acres, and the average farm size reached a historic high of 36,743 acres. Ranchers raised sheep (111,240
in 1880 and 149,310 in 1890) and cattle (37,058 in 1890 and 40,083 in 1900). During the decade following the turn
of the century the number of livestock plummeted; cattle numbers dropped from 40,083 in 1900 to 13,866 by 1910,
and sheep fell from 149,310 to 14,070 in 1900. Cattle numbers remained low throughout the first half of the twentieth
century before reaching its highest number of the century with 31,568 in 1959. In 1971, 750,000 acres in the county
were devoted to ranching, and from 15,000 to 20,000 cattle were shipped each year. |
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