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Physical Features: Located in three soil areas; level to rolling; bisected by Colorado River; Eagle Lake; oaks.

Economy: Agribusiness, oil and gas services, gravel mining.

History: Karankawa and other tribes. Anglo settlers among Stephen F. Austin’s Old Three Hundred families. First German settlers arrived around 1840. Antebellum slaveholding area. County created in 1836, organized in 1837; named for river.

Race/Ethnicity: (In percent) Anglo, 55.9; Black, 12.8; Hispanic, 30.6; Asian, 0.7; Other, 1.2; Two or more races, 1.4.

Vital Statistics, annual: Births, 265; deaths, 256; marriages, 117; divorces, 45.

Recreation: Hunting of duck, geese, deer, exotics; canoeing, bicycling; historic sites; Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge; opera house in Columbus, water park in Sheridan.

Minerals: Gas, oil, gravel.

Agriculture: Rice (29,000 acres), cattle, corn, cotton, soybeans, sesame, hay, pecans, nurseries; significant irrigation for rice. Market value $71 million.

COLUMBUS (3,715) county seat; agriculture, guarrying, manufacturing; hospital; historical sites, homes, museums, walking tour; Magnolia Days festival in May.

Eagle Lake (3,699) rice drying center; hospital; goose hunting; Prairie Edge museum.

Weimar (2,240) agriculture, light industry, meat processing, retail; hospital, library; “Gedenke” (remember) celebration on Mother’s Day weekend.

Other towns include: Altair (30), Garwood (600), Glidden (748), Nada (165), Oakland (80), Rock Island (160), Sheridan (300).

The Colorado County Courthouse in Columbus. Photo by Larry D. Moore (CC).