Karnes County

Karnes County, Texas

Karnes County, Texas

The Karnes County Courthouse in Karnes City, the county seat. Photograph by Larry D. Moore.
Karnes County, Texas

Karnes County, Texas

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

Karnes County is southeast of San Antonio in the Rio Grande plain region. It is bounded on the north by Wilson County, on the east by Gonzales and DeWitt counties, on the south by Goliad and Bee counties, and on the west by Atascosa and Live Oak counties. The county seat is Karnes City, which is fifty-two miles southeast of San Antonio. Other important communities include Kenedy, Runge, Panna Maria, Helena, Czestochowa, Pawelekville, Falls City, Hobson, Ecleto, Gillett, Coy City, and Lenz. Several major highways serve the county, including U.S. Highway 181, and State highways 72, 80, and 123. Karnes County covers 758 square miles of the Rio Grande plain region. The rolling to hilly land has an elevation range of 180 to 400 feet. The northwestern half of the county has nearly level to undulating terrain with deep soils composed of light-colored loamy surfaces and clayey subsoils. The remainder of the county has light to dark, loamy surfaces over reddish, clayey subsoils with limestone within forty inches of the surface, and gray to black, cracking, clayey soils with a high shrink-swell potential. Vegetation includes grasslands, mesquite, post oak, live oak, pecan, and some brush and cacti. Between 71 and 80 percent of the land in the county is considered prime farmland. The central and southern portions of the county are drained by the San Antonio River, the northern portion by Cibolo and Ecleto creeks. The climate is subtropical humid with warm summers. Temperatures in January range from an average low of 41° F to an average high of 65° and in July range from 74° to 96°. The growing season averages 280 days per year, with the last freeze in late February and the first freeze in early December. Diversified farming of grain sorghum, corn, hay, and vegetables is a major industry. Livestock raising includes beef cattle, dairy cattle, and poultry. Minerals include oil, gas, and uranium.

The area which now comprises Karnes County has been the site of human habitation for several millennia. Archeological evidence reveals that hunter-gatherer Indians of the Coahuiltecan linguistic family occupied the region for several thousand years prior to the arrival of Europeans. The area of Karnes County was also in the hunting range of Comanche, Tonkawa, Karankawa, and Lipan Apache Indians. When the Spanish explorers first reached south central Texas the region was also inhabited by the Pataguilla Indians, who lived in the San Antonio River valley between the sites of present-day Panna Maria and Falls City, and the Pitaias Indians, who lived near the site of present Conquista Crossing. The earliest Spanish explorers probably crossed the area in the early eighteenth century, but permanent settlement did not occur until the middle of the century, when the region became the nucleus of ranching activity between San Antonio de Béxar and La Bahía (now Goliad). The first land grants issued in the area of present Karnes County were on April 12, 1758, to Andrés Hernández and Luis Antonio Menchaca, who established ranches in the wedge of land between the San Antonio River and Cibolo Creek. Around 1770 the Spanish established a fort called Fuerte de Santa Cruz del Cíbolo on Cibolo Creek near the site of present Czestochowa to protect the ranches in the area from raids by Comanches and other Indian tribes. In 1783, after repeated Comanche attacks, the fort and some twenty-five neighboring ranches were abandoned, and by the mid-1780s only six ranches and eighty-five Spanish settlers remained.

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Christopher Long | © 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

Karnes County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

180 ft – 580 ft

Size

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

  • Land Area: 747.6 mi²
  • Total Area: 753.6 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 41.8°F
July mean maximum: 95.1°F

Rainfall, 2019

30.1 inches

Population Count, 2019

15,601

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

7,115

Unemployment, 2019

7.1%

Property Values, 2019

$8,291,532,840 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$49,593 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$178,130,690 USD

Wages, 2019

$102,250,996 USD

Karnes County

Highlighted:
  • Karnes County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
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Town 8 (2014) Yes
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Town 110 (2014) Yes
Town 30 (2009) Yes
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Town 10 (2009) Yes
Town 30 (2014) Yes
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Town 12 (2014) Yes
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Town 22 (2014) Yes
Town 35 (2014) Yes
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Town 544 (2021) Yes
Town 15 (2014) Yes
Town 120 (2014) Yes
Town 50 (2009) Yes
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Town 35 (2014) Yes
Town 135 (2014) Yes
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Town 3,270 (2021) Yes
Town 3,626 (2021) Yes
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Town 50 (2009) Yes
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Town 45 (2014) Yes
Town 110 (2014) Yes
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Town 963 (2021) Yes
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Town 15 (2014) Yes

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