Jim Wells County

Jim Wells County, Texas

Jim Wells County, Texas

View of the Jim Wells County Courthouse in Alice, Texas. Photograph by Larry D. Moore.
Jim Wells County, Texas

Jim Wells County, Texas

Map of Jim Wells County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Jim Wells County is on U.S. Highway 281 west of Corpus Christi in the Rio Grande Plain region of South Texas. It is bordered by Live Oak and San Patricio counties on the north, Nueces and Kleberg counties on the east, Brooks County on the south, and Duval County on the west. Alice, the county seat and largest town, is located near the center of the county at 27°39' north latitude and 98°05' west longitude. Other communities include Orange Grove, Ben Bolt, Sandia, and Premont. The county covers 845 square miles. The terrain is flat, with elevations ranging from 200 to 400 feet. Soils are generally light to dark, with loamy surfaces over reddish, clayey subsoils and limestone forty inches below the surface. Gray to black, cracking, clayey soils are also found in some areas. The county's vegetation is typical of the South Texas Plains region, with grasslands, mesquite, post oak, live oak, and cacti predominating. Between 41 and 50 percent of the county is considered prime farmland. Natural resources include caliche, industrial sand, oil, and gas. The climate is subtropical-humid. Heavy rains from weakening tropical storms are common from June through October. Temperatures range from 44° F to 68° in January and 74° to 96° in July. The average annual temperature is 72°. Rainfall averages twenty-eight inches a year. Snow almost never occurs. The growing season lasts for 304 days of the year, with the last freeze in mid-February and the first freeze in early December.

The area that is now Jim Wells County has been the site of human habitation for perhaps 11,000 years. Among the oldest artifacts found in the region are stone implements and human remains dating from the Paleo-Indian period (9200 to 6000 B.C.). During the Archaic period (6000 B.C. to A.D. 1000) the local Indian population seems to have increased, and small bands of hunter-gatherers apparently spent time in the area. During this period the inhabitants subsisted mostly on game, wild fruits, seeds, and roots. Tools were carved from wood and stone by these early peoples, who also wove baskets and made rabbit-skin clothing. The hunting and gathering life persisted into the Late Prehistoric period (A.D. 1000 to the arrival of the Spanish), though during this time the Indians in the area, who included the Chaguanes and Payuguans, learned to make pottery and hunted with bows and arrows. These early groups, who belonged to the Coahuiltecan linguistic group, were driven out by the Lipan Apaches  by 1775.

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Alicia A. Garza | © 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

Jim Wells County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

50 ft – 450 ft

Size

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

  • Land Area: 865.0 mi²
  • Total Area: 868.3 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 44.9°F
July mean maximum: 97.2°F

Rainfall, 2019

28.4 inches

Population Count, 2019

40,482

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

17,132

Unemployment, 2019

14.3%

Property Values, 2019

$2,407,738,129 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$40,570 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$470,490,394 USD

Wages, 2019

$204,766,951 USD

Jim Wells County

Highlighted:
  • Jim Wells County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
Town 274 (2021) Yes
Town 17,761 (2021) Yes
Town 241 (2021) Yes
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Town 15 (2009) Yes
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Town 456 (2021) Yes
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Town 196 (2021) Yes
Town 750 (2009) Yes
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Town 2,441 (2021) Yes
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Town 382 (2021) Yes
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Town 790 (2021)
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Town 82 (2021) Yes

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