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Reeves County
Reeves County
County
	Reeves County Courthouse in Pecos
	Location within the U.S. state of Texas
	Texas's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 31°19′N 103°41′W / 31.32°N 103.68°W
Country	United States
State	Texas
Founded	1884
Named for	George R. Reeves
Seat	Pecos
Largest city	Pecos
Area
• Total	2,642 sq mi (6,840 km2)
• Land	2,635 sq mi (6,820 km2)
• Water	6.7 sq mi (17 km2) 0.3%
Population (2020)
• Total	14,748
• Density	5.2/sq mi (2.0/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	23rd
Website	www.reevescounty.org

Reeves County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,748.^[1] Its county seat and most populous city is Pecos.^[2] The county was created in 1883 and organized the next year.^[3] It is named for George R. Reeves, a Texas state legislator and colonel in the Confederate Army. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. Reeves County comprises the Pecos micropolitan statistical area.

History

Native Americans

Prehistoric Clovis culture peoples^[4] in Reeves County lived in the rock shelters and caves nestled near water supplies. These people left behind artifacts and pictographs as evidence of their presence.^[5] Jumano Indians led the Antonio de Espejo^[6] 1582–1583 expedition near Toyah Lake on a better route to the farming and trade area of La Junta de los Ríos. Espejo's diary places the Jumano along the Pecos River and its tributaries.^[7] The Mescalero Apache^[8]^[9] frequented San Solomon Springs to irrigate their crops. In 1849, John Salmon "RIP" Ford^[10] explored the area between San Antonio and El Paso, noting in his mapped report the productive land upon which the Mescalero Indians farmed.

County established and growth

The state legislature formed Reeves from Pecos County in 1883, and named it after Texas legislator and soldier George Robertson Reeves.^[11]^[12] The county was organized in 1884. The town of Pecos^[13] was named as county seat.

Toyah Valley farmers George B. and Robert E. Lyle were the first Anglo settlers 1871. White settlers started arriving in the area four years later, lured by open-range ranching.^[14] For the remainder of the century, the county economy was dependent upon farming and ranching as it moved into the manufacturing and oil industries of the 20th century.

The Texas and Pacific Railway built through Reeves County in 1881, with stations at Pecos^[15] and Toyah.^[16] By 1890, the Pecos River Railway^[17] had built from Pecos to New Mexico. Toyahvale,^[18] which means "flowing water", became the western terminus of the railroad.

Balmorhea State Park was built at Toyahvale by the Civilian Conservation Corps.^[19] The park was deeded to the State of Texas in 1934 and opened to the public in 1968.

Pecos Army Air Field was one of the 120 airbases that trained the pioneer Women Airforce Service Pilots^[20] to fly military aircraft. At the Pecos installation, WASP flew AT-6, UC-78, and AT-17 aircraft in engineering tests, administrative duties, and transporting freight. The base was activated in 1942 as a World War II pilot school.^[21] The base was deactivated in 1945. At its peak, the base population of 4,034 rivaled the town of Pecos in size. Portions of the base were sold off over the years, with Pecos Municipal Airport retaining the remainder.

Pecos is the site of the largest private prison in the world, the Reeves County Detention Complex, operated by the GEO Group.^[22]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,642 square miles (6,840 km²), of which 6.7 sq mi (17 km²) (0.3%) are covered by water.^[23]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Eddy County, New Mexico (north/Mountain Time Zone)
Loving County (northeast)
Ward County (east)
Pecos County (southeast)
Jeff Davis County (south)
Culberson County (west)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1890	1,247	—
1900	1,847	48.1%
1910	4,392	137.8%
1920	4,457	1.5%
1930	6,407	43.8%
1940	8,006	25.0%
1950	11,745	46.7%
1960	17,644	50.2%
1970	16,526	−6.3%
1980	15,801	−4.4%
1990	15,852	0.3%
2000	13,137	−17.1%
2010	13,783	4.9%
2020	14,748	7.0%
U.S. Decennial Census^[24] 1850–2010^[25] 2010–2020^[26] 2020^[1]

2020 census

**Reeves 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.*
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000^[27]	Pop 2010^[28]	Pop 2020^[29]	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	3,131	2,690	1,697	23.83%	19.52%	11.51%
Black or African American alone (NH)	238	672	224	1.81%	4.88%	1.52%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	34	21	27	0.26%	0.15%	0.18%
Asian alone (NH)	46	118	165	0.35%	0.86%	1.12%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	0	2	3	0.00%	0.01%	0.02%
Other race alone (NH)	3	20	39	0.02%	0.15%	0.26%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	45	27	83	0.34%	0.20%	0.56%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	9,640	10,233	12,510	73.38%	74.24%	84.83%
Total	13,137	13,783	14,748	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 14,748 people, 3,772 households, and 2,388 families residing in the county. According to the 2010 United States census, 13,783 people were living in the county; 77.2% White, 5.0% African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.5% Native American, 14.9% of some other race, and 1.5% of two or more races. About 74.2% were Hispanics or Latinos (of any race).

Communities

Cities

Balmorhea
Pecos (county seat)

Towns

Toyah

Census-designated places

Lindsay

Unincorporated communities

Ghost town

Orla

Politics

In 2020, Donald Trump not only flipped Reeves County, but won the greatest margin of victory for a Republican presidential candidate since President Nixon's 1972 re-election at 61.1%.

United States presidential election results for Reeves County, Texas^[30]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	2,340	68.04%	1,070	31.11%	29	0.84%
2020	2,254	61.07%	1,395	37.79%	42	1.14%
2016	1,417	44.50%	1,659	52.10%	108	3.39%
2012	1,188	41.29%	1,655	57.53%	34	1.18%
2008	1,445	46.96%	1,606	52.19%	26	0.84%
2004	1,777	52.34%	1,600	47.13%	18	0.53%
2000	1,273	40.08%	1,872	58.94%	31	0.98%
1996	1,007	28.40%	2,279	64.27%	260	7.33%
1992	1,244	27.30%	2,569	56.37%	744	16.33%
1988	1,724	37.86%	2,812	61.75%	18	0.40%
1984	2,461	50.51%	2,396	49.18%	15	0.31%
1980	2,315	50.95%	2,138	47.05%	91	2.00%
1976	1,711	39.41%	2,613	60.18%	18	0.41%
1972	2,427	61.57%	1,510	38.31%	5	0.13%
1968	1,310	37.33%	1,456	41.49%	743	21.17%
1964	1,251	34.80%	2,340	65.09%	4	0.11%
1960	1,549	40.53%	2,235	58.48%	38	0.99%
1956	1,492	52.24%	1,356	47.48%	8	0.28%
1952	1,727	55.39%	1,385	44.42%	6	0.19%
1948	309	17.27%	1,383	77.31%	97	5.42%
1944	201	13.31%	1,157	76.62%	152	10.07%
1940	247	15.89%	1,305	83.98%	2	0.13%
1936	100	8.13%	1,127	91.63%	3	0.24%
1932	122	10.07%	1,085	89.60%	4	0.33%
1928	344	46.61%	394	53.39%	0	0.00%
1924	96	18.75%	387	75.59%	29	5.66%
1920	91	16.55%	457	83.09%	2	0.36%
1916	43	10.89%	346	87.59%	6	1.52%
1912	8	2.37%	278	82.49%	51	15.13%