Falls County, Texas

Falls County, Texas
The Falls County Courthouse in Marlin. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 13, 2000.
Flag
Location in the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1850
Seat	Marlin
Largest city	Marlin
Area
• Total	774 sq mi (2,005 km2)
• Land	765 sq mi (1,981 km2)
• Water	8.4 sq mi (22 km2), 1.1%
Population
• (2010)	17,866
• Density	23/sq mi (9/km²)
Congressional district	17th
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.falls.tx.us

Falls County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 17,866.^[1] The county seat is Marlin.^[2] It is named for the original 10-foot-tall waterfall on the Brazos River, which existed until the river changed course during a storm in 1866. The present falls can be found two miles northeast of the original falls, at the Falls on the Brazos Park, a camping site located only a few miles out of Marlin on Farm to Market Road 712.

Falls County is included in the Waco, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area.

With a large portion of its economy based on agriculture,^[3] Falls County is sixth among 254 Texas counties in corn production.^[4]

History

Native Americans

The Brazos River valley served as hunting grounds for several tribes, including Wacos, Tawakonis, and Anadarkos. The Comanches were often a more aggressive band who forced other tribes off the land. The Tawakoni^[5] branch of Wichita Indians originated north of Texas, but migrated south into east Texas. From 1843 onward, the Tawakoni were part of treaties made by both the Republic of Texas and the United States.

The Cherokees arrived in the early 1830s. Sam Houston, adopted son of Chief Oolooteka (John Jolly) of the Cherokee, negotiated the February 1836 treaty between Chief Bowl^[6] of the Cherokees and the Republic of Texas.^[6][7][8]

January 1839, Falls County saw two brutal massacres by the Anadarkos, under chief José María,^[9] at the homes of George Morgan and John Marlin.^[10] A retaliatory offensive by settlers was ineffective and forced the group into a retreat.

In 1846, several tribes negotiated a treaty^[11][12] with the United States government.

Settlers

Empresarios "Sterling C. Robertson:Texas Association/Nashville Co." and Robert Leftwich received a grant from the Coahuila y Tejas legislature to settle 800 families.^[13] By contracting how many families each grantee could settle, the government sought to have some control over colonization. Robertson began bringing American settlers to his Nashville colony (later called Robertson's Colony).^[14] Most of the settlers came from Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi. He named the capital of the Nashville colony Sarahville de Viesca.^[15] Fort Viesca was built in 1834, with a name change to Fort Milam in 1835.^[16] The settlement was deserted during the Runaway Scrape^[17] of 1836, and reoccupied after the Battle of San Jacinto.^[18]

County established and growth

The state legislature formed Falls County from Limestone and Milam counties in 1850, and named it after the falls of the Brazos River.^[19][20] Marlin became the county seat.

By the census of 1860^[21] the county had 1,716 slaves. Falls County voted in favor of secession from the Union. The county fared better during Reconstruction than most, perhaps due to its distance from areas subject to Union military occupation.

Marlin^[22] began to be known by the healing powers of its hot mineral waters by the 1890s.^[23] Conrad Hilton built the Falls Hotel, with a tunnel to a mineral bath, to accommodate the business generated by the hot spring.

The Houston and Texas Central Railway^[24] became the first railroad through the county around 1870. The Waco Division of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway,^[25] in 1886-1925, had multiple stops in Falls County. In 1902 the Missouri Pacific Railroad^[26] passed through the county.

A log cabin served as the county's first courthouse in the 1850s,^[27] until the second courthouse was built of white cedar. The second courthouse burned in 1870. A third courthouse was built in 1876 but was damaged by a storm in 1886.

A fourth courthouse was built in 1888, which by the 1930s had greatly deteriorated. The concrete, brick, and stone fifth and present-day courthouse^[28] was completed in 1939 by architect Arthur E. Thomas.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 774 square miles (2,000 km²), of which 765 square miles (1,980 km²) is land and 8.4 square miles (22 km²) (1.1%) is water.^[29]

Major highways

• Interstate 35 (two miles)
• U.S. Highway 77
• State Highway 6
• State Highway 7
• State Highway 14
• State Highway 53
• State Highway 320

Adjacent counties

• Limestone County (northeast)
• Robertson County (southeast)
• Milam County (south)
• Bell County (southwest)
• McLennan County (northwest)

Demographics

As of the census^[33] of 2000, there were 18,576 people, 6,496 households, and 4,410 families residing in the county. The population density was 24 people per square mile (9/km²). There were 7,658 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 61.50% White, 27.45% Black or African American, 0.50% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 8.81% from other races, and 1.59% from two or more races. 15.83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,496 households out of which 30.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.20% were married couples living together, 15.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.10% were non-families. 29.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the county, the population was spread out with 27.60% under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 27.00% from 25 to 44, 20.80% from 45 to 64, and 16.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 85.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $26,589, and the median income for a family was $32,666. Males had a median income of $27,042 versus $20,128 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,311. About 18.80% of families and 22.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.70% of those under age 18 and 18.40% of those age 65 or over.

Government and infrastructure

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the Marlin Unit, a transfer facility for men, in the city of Marlin. The unit opened in June 1992 and was transferred to the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) in May 1995.^[34] When it was a part of TYC, the facility, then called the Marlin Orientation and Assessment Unit,^[35] served as the place of orientation for minors of both sexes being committed into the TYC's care, from the facility's opening in 1995 to its transfer out of TYC in 2007.^[36]

In September 2007 the facility was transferred back to the TDCJ.^[34] The TDCJ also operates the William P. Hobby Unit, a prison for women located southwest of Marlin in unincorporated Falls County.^[37]

Communities

Cities and towns

• Bruceville-Eddy (mostly in McLennan County)
• Golinda (small part in McLennan County)
• Lott
• Marlin (county seat)
• Rosebud

Census-designated place

• Chilton

Unincorporated communities

In popular culture

Marlin has been a filming location for two movies: Leadbelly (1976) and Infamous (2006).

In 2013, a ranch in northeast Falls County near Mart, Texas, was the site of the series premiere of Treehouse Masters, in which a couple had a $200,000 treehouse built on their property.^[38]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Falls County, Texas

References

External links

• Falls County from the Handbook of Texas Online

	McLennan County		Limestone County
		Falls County, Texas
	Bell County	Milam County	Robertson County

Municipalities and communities of Falls County, Texas, United States
County seat: Marlin
Cities	Bruceville-Eddy‡ Golinda‡ Lott Marlin Rosebud
CDP	Chilton
Other unincorporated communities	Barclay Cedar Springs Cego Durango Highbank McClanahan Mooreville Perry Pleasant Grove Reagan Satin Stranger Tomlinson Hill Travis Westphalia Wilderville Zipperlandville
Ghost towns	Sarahville de Viesca
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Counties of Texas
Anderson Andrews Angelina Aransas Archer Armstrong Atascosa Austin Bailey Bandera Bastrop Baylor Bee Bell Bexar Blanco Borden Bosque Bowie Brazoria Brazos Brewster Briscoe Brooks Brown Burleson Burnet Caldwell Calhoun Callahan Cameron Camp Carson Cass Castro Chambers Cherokee Childress Clay Cochran Coke Coleman Collin Collingsworth Colorado Comal Comanche Concho Cooke Coryell Cottle Crane Crockett Crosby Culberson Dallam Dallas Dawson Deaf Smith Delta Denton DeWitt Dickens Dimmit Donley Duval Eastland Ector Edwards El Paso Ellis Erath Falls Fannin Fayette Fisher Floyd Foard Fort Bend Franklin Freestone Frio Gaines Galveston Garza Gillespie Glasscock Goliad Gonzales Gray Grayson Gregg Grimes Guadalupe Hale Hall Hamilton Hansford Hardeman Hardin Harris Harrison Hartley Haskell Hays Hemphill Henderson Hidalgo Hill Hockley Hood Hopkins Houston Howard Hudspeth Hunt Hutchinson Irion Jack Jackson Jasper Jeff Davis Jefferson Jim Hogg Jim Wells Johnson Jones Karnes Kaufman Kendall Kenedy Kent Kerr Kimble King Kinney Kleberg Knox La Salle Lamar Lamb Lampasas Lavaca Lee Leon Liberty Limestone Lipscomb Live Oak Llano Loving Lubbock Lynn Madison Marion Martin Mason Matagorda Maverick McCulloch McLennan McMullen Medina Menard Midland Milam Mills Mitchell Montague Montgomery Moore Morris Motley Nacogdoches Navarro Newton Nolan Nueces Ochiltree Oldham Orange Palo Pinto Panola Parker Parmer Pecos Polk Potter Presidio Rains Randall Reagan Real Red River Reeves Refugio Roberts Robertson Rockwall Runnels Rusk Sabine San Augustine San Jacinto San Patricio San Saba Schleicher Scurry Shackelford Shelby Sherman Smith Somervell Starr Stephens Sterling Stonewall Sutton Swisher Tarrant Taylor Terrell Terry Throckmorton Titus Tom Green Travis Trinity Tyler Upshur Upton Uvalde Val Verde Van Zandt Victoria Walker Waller Ward Washington Webb Wharton Wheeler Wichita Wilbarger Willacy Williamson Wilson Winkler Wise Wood Yoakum Young Zapata Zavala

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Coordinates: 31°16′N 96°56′W / 31.26°N 96.93°W / 31.26; -96.93