Where is atascosa tx

In contrast to many other areas of the state, the overwhelming majority of the tenants were White, but the problem nonetheless had serious results during the Great Depression of the s.

As a result of the poor yields and the reluctance of banks to extend credit to financially strapped farmers, many of those who made a living from the land, particularly tenants, found themselves in a precarious position. Numerous farmers were forced to give up their livelihoods and seek work elsewhere.

Between and the number of tenants dropped from 1, to Oil was discovered in , and oil revenues helped some cash-strapped farmers and ranchers to survive the depression years, but the farming economy did not fully recover until after World War II.

During the s cotton production continued to decline, and its place was taken by new crops such as sorghum and peanuts. Commercial strawberry raising also grew in importance after World War II, and by Atascosa County was the third-largest strawberry grower among Texas counties. Poteet strawberries were famous. In the early s beef and dairy cattle, peanuts, hay, corn, grain sorghums, pecans, and strawberries were the leading crops.

Approximately 40, acres was under irrigation. After World War II the county population grew slightly, to 20, in , but fell during the late s and s, and by the number of residents stood at 18, Subsequently, the population increased steadily; in it was 30, Much of the growth is attributable to the increase in the number of Mexican Americans.

In Atascosa County was ranked fortieth among all United States counties in percentage of Hispanics, with 48 percent, and by that number had grown to 55 percent. Other leading ancestry groups included German 15 percent and English 14 percent. The percentage of the labor force employed in retailing, wholesaling, and manufacturing was 25; 16 percent were in professional or related service, 21 percent in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and mining, and 12 percent self-employed.

The remainder worked outside the county. Among the leading occupations were general construction and agribusiness. As of Atascosa County had forty-five churches with a total estimated membership of over 18, Oil and gas extraction continued to be a leading industry.

Humble Pipe Line Company established operations in Atascosa County in , but the oil industry did not begin in earnest until the opening of Imogene and West Imogene fields in the s, as well as those at Charlotte and Jourdanton. Diverse Humble operations in the Jourdanton area in the s included gasoline, propane, butane, natural gasoline, and natural gas, all of which continued to be productive in the mids.

In Atascosa County wells produced 1,, barrels of oil. Almost , barrels of oil and 6,, feet of gas-well gas were produced in the county in ; by the end of that year ,, barrels of oil had been taken from county lands since The mining of lignite coal, first begun in , also became a major industry as the price of fuel oil and natural gas rose.

The first lignite in Atascosa County was burned as fuel in after a ten-year period of research and development by the Brazos Electric Power Cooperative of Waco and the South Texas Electric Cooperative of Victoria.

Another main mineral resource of Atascosa County is silica, used in building and glass-making. Local sand has also been processed for playground use, as blasting and frac sand for the oil industry, and as building material. The voters of Atascosa County favored the Democratic candidate in virtually every presidential election from through ; the only exception occurred in , when Republican Herbert Hoover took the county.

After , when Republican Dwight Eisenhower carried the county over Democrat Adlai Stevenson, the area began to trend more Republican. Though Democrats won majorities in the county in , , and , Republicans took the county in , , , and Republican George H. Bush won only a plurality of the county's voters in , at least partly because independent candidate Ross Perot ran strongly in the area, and Democrat Bill Clinton won a plurality in George W.

Bush carried the county by large margins in and Democrats continued to dominate local and state elections in the county into the s and early s; in the primary 98 percent of the county's residents voted Democratic, and only 2 percent Republican, with 4, votes cast. In the late s, however, Republican candidates for state and local offices became much more competitive in county elections.

The earliest schools were organized around the time of the Civil War. By there were thirty-seven schools in the county, including three schools for black students. By the s the school districts had begun to consolidate. The total number of persons over the age of twenty-five who had completed four years of high school rose from 1, in to 2, in In addition, in and in had some college education and in and in had received undergraduate degrees.

In , students graduated from high school in Atascosa County's five consolidated school districts, and 34 percent of these indicated their intention to go on to college. The total number of adults with four years of high school had increased dramatically to over 12,, almost half the total number of residents, and the number of college graduates over twenty-five was 2,, or almost 9 percent.

In the census counted 47, people living in Atascosa County. Some Over 65 percent of residents age twenty-five and older had four years of high school, and more than 10 percent had college degrees. In the early twenty-first century agriculture, government services, and some light manufacturing were key elements of the area's economy. In the county had 1, farms and ranches covering , acres, 52 percent of which were devoted to pasture, 33 percent to crops, and 12 percent to woodlands.

Beef cattle, strawberries, peanuts, corn, milo, wheat, and wine were the chief agricultural products. Jourdanton population, 4, is the seat of government, and Pleasanton 9, is the county's largest town. Numerous hunters are attracted to the county, particularly during the fall and winter deer seasons.

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