Culberson County

Culberson County, Texas

Culberson County, Texas

Culberson County Courthouse in Van Horn, Texas. Photograph by Larry D. Moore.
Culberson County, Texas

Culberson County, Texas

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

Culberson County is located in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. It is bordered by New Mexico to the north and by Hudspeth, Reeves, and Jeff Davis counties in Texas. Van Horn, the county seat, is approximately 120 miles east of El Paso in the southwestern part of the county. The county's center lies about thirty-six miles northeast of Van Horn at approximately 32°27' north latitude and 104°29' west longitude. Interstate Highway 10 and U.S. Highway 80 cross southern Culberson County from east to west; U.S. Highway 90 enters the county from the south and terminates at Van Horn; and U.S. highways 62 and 180 cross the county's northwestern corner. Two lines belonging to the Union Pacific Railroad cross the county's southwestern corner.

Culberson County comprises 3,815 square miles of terrain that varies from mountainous to nearly level, with elevations ranging from 8,751 feet on Guadalupe Peak, the highest spot in the state, to 3,000 feet. The county is in the Rio Grande basin. Soils in Culberson County are primarily shallow and stony, with some clay and sandy loams and sand. Vegetation consists of scrub brush, grasses, cacti, creosote bush, post oak, chaparral, oak, juniper, mesquite, yucca, and agave, with Douglas fir, aspen, Arizona cypress, maple, and madrone trees in the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupes are also the home of several endangered or locally rare plant species, including bigtooth maple, ponderosa pine, chinquapin oak, Rocky Mountain juniper, Texas madrone, and Mexican buckeye, and of the only elk in Texas. Dolomite, gypsum, limestone, salt, silver, copper, lead, zinc, barite, and molybdenum are among the minerals found in Culberson County. The climate is mild and dry, with an average minimum temperature of 30° F in January and an average maximum of 94° in July. The growing season averages 224 days a year, and the average annual precipitation is ten inches. Less than 1 percent of the land in Culberson County is considered prime farmland.

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Martin Donell Kohout | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

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

Culberson County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

2900 ft – 8749 ft

Size

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

  • Land Area: 3,812.8 mi²
  • Total Area: 3,813.0 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 28.3°F
July mean maximum: 92.3°F

Rainfall, 2019

11.6 inches

Population Count, 2019

2,171

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

977

Unemployment, 2019

9.1%

Property Values, 2019

$2,055,896,360 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$54,180 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$109,172,199 USD

Wages, 2019

$18,186,771 USD

Culberson County

Highlighted:
  • Culberson County
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