On December 8, 1857, the Texas Legislature formed Bee County from sections of Refugio, Live Oak, San Patricio, Goliad, and Karnes Counties, naming it for Colonel Barnard Elliot Bee, who served the Republic of Texas as Sam Houston's secretary of war and Mirabeau B. Lamar's secretary of state.[4]
During the Anglo-American land speculation of the 1830s, the area's earliest settlers were mainly Irish immigrants, but by the late 1840s and early 1850s, the rise of Jacksonian expansionism inspired Southern whites from the North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Mississippi to occupy and build settlements in the area.[5]
As the constitution of the Republic of Texas no longer recognized the Catholic Church (or any church) as the state religion and slave-holding settlers came to dominate the area in the 1840s, small Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist congregations began forming with sustained missionary support from these denominations. Research suggests that Baptists and Methodists comprised 65% of all Texas congregations by 1870.[6]
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 880 square miles (2,300 km2), of which 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) (0.01%) is covered by water.[7] The Aransas River forms in Bee County, southwest of Beeville and north of Skidmore.
U.S. Decennial Census[8] 1850–2010[9] 2010–2020[2]
Bee County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the Census[13] of 2000, 32,359 people, 9,061 households, and 6,578 families lived in the county. The population density was 37 people per square mile (14 people/km2). The 10,939 housing units had an average density of 12 units per square mile (4.6/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 67.85% White, 9.90% African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 19.15% from other races, and 2.13% from two or more races. About 53.93% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race.
Of the 9,061 households, 37.8% had children under 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.4% were not families. About 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.74, and the average family size was 3.25.
In the county, the population was distributed as 23.4% under 18, 13.3% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 148.40 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 164.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $28,392, and for a family was $32,967. Males had a median income of $26,473 versus $20,666 for females. The per capita income for the county was $10,625. About 19.70% of families and 24.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 33.80% of those under age 18 and 18.30% of those age 65 or over.
In 1981 the county government provided firefighting services in unincorporated areas, and there was a proposal to move that competency to four rural firefighting districts made largely on school district boundaries, each with taxing powers.[19]
Politics
Bee County is somewhat moderate in comparison to surrounding counties in its support of Republicans in presidential elections. In 2016, Donald Trump won less than 56% of the vote. As recently as 1996, it gave a majority of its votes to the Democratic candidate.
United States presidential election results for Bee County, Texas[20]
^Ezell, Camp (1973). The Historical Story of Bee County, Texas. Beeville, Texas: Beeville Publishing Co. p. 25.
^Jordan, Terry G. (January 1969). "The Origin of Anglo-American Cattle Ranching in Texas: A Documentation of Diffusion from the Lower South". Economic Geography. 45 (45): 63–87. doi:10.2307/143180. JSTOR143180.
^Pritchard, Linda K. (1988). "A Comparative Approach to Western Religious History: Texas as a Case Study, 1845-1890". The Western Historical Quarterly. 19 (4): 413–430. doi:10.2307/968321. JSTOR968321.
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