Hudspeth County

Hudspeth County, Texas

Hudspeth County, Texas

View of the Hudspeth County Courthouse in Sierra Blanca, Texas, the county seat. Photograph by Larry D. Moore.
Hudspeth County, Texas

Hudspeth County, Texas

Map of Hudspeth County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Hudspeth County, in the Trans-Pecos region of far-western Texas, is bordered by New Mexico to the north, the Mexican state of Chihuahua to the south, El Paso County to the west, and Culberson and Jeff Davis counties to the east. Sierra Blanca, the county seat, is seventy miles southeast of El Paso in south central Hudspeth County. The county's center lies at approximately 31°32' north latitude and 105°28' west longitude, about twenty-four miles northwest of Sierra Blanca. Interstate Highway 10 and U.S. Highway 80 cross southern Hudspeth County from east to west, and U.S. highways 62 and 180 cross northern Hudspeth County from east to west. The Missouri Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads both enter southeastern Hudspeth County and meet at Sierra Blanca, from which point the latter line continues west to El Paso. The county covers 4,566 square miles of terrain in the Rio Grande basin that varies from mountainous to nearly level, with elevations ranging from 3,200 to 7,500 feet above sea level. Soils in the lower elevations are alkaline and loamy with clayey subsoils that overlie limestone in some areas; thin and stony soils predominate in the mountains, and along the Rio Grande clay and sandy loams predominate. Vegetation includes short, sparse grasses, creosote bush, scrub brush, mesquite, and cacti, with juniper, live oak, and piñon at the higher elevations. Among the minerals found in Hudspeth County are barite, beryllium, coal, copper, fluorspar, gold, gypsum, lead, limestone, mica, clay, salt, silver, talc, and zinc. The climate is subtropical, arid, warm, and dry, with an average minimum temperature of 29° in January and an average high temperature of 94° in July. The growing season averages 230 days a year, and the average annual precipitation is less than ten inches. Less than 1 percent of the land in Hudspeth County is considered prime farmland.

Petroglyphs, middens, and pottery from prehistoric peoples have been found at various springs in Hudspeth County. Artifacts found in the southern part suggest that Jornada Mogollón people (A.D. 900–1350) were practicing agriculture in the Rio Grande floodplain; the Salt Basin in northeastern Hudspeth County was occupied by hunter-gatherers during roughly the same period. The earliest accounts of Spanish exploration of the area that became Hudspeth County are from the Rodríguez-Sánchez expedition in 1581 and from Antonio de Espejo's expedition in the following year. The Rodríguez expedition encountered a group of friendly Indians who gave them presents, including macaw-feather bonnets, near the present site of Esperanza, and the Espejo expedition met some 200 Otomoaco Indians at a place the Spaniards called La Deseada ("Desired") in southeastern Hudspeth County.

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Martin Donell Kohout | © TSHA

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Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Hudspeth County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

3117 ft – 7484 ft

Size

Land area does not include water surface area, whereas total area does

  • Land Area: 4,571.0 mi²
  • Total Area: 4,571.8 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 25.7°F
July mean maximum: 92.5°F

Rainfall, 2019

11.2 inches

Population Count, 2019

4,886

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

1,766

Unemployment, 2019

9.5%

Property Values, 2019

$843,239,991 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$32,472 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$12,161,493 USD

Wages, 2019

$24,414,999 USD

Hudspeth County

Highlighted:
  • Hudspeth County
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Town 100 (2009) Yes
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Town 8 (2009) Yes
Town 676 (2021) Yes
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