La Salle County

La Salle County, in South Texas, is bordered by Dimmit, Frio, Webb, and McMullen counties. Cotulla, the county's largest town and the county seat, is located in the northwestern part of the county at the intersection of Interstate highway 35 and State Highway 97. The center point of the county is at 28°20' north latitude and 99°05' west longitude. La Salle County was named for René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. It comprises 1,517 square miles of usually flat to rolling terrain vegetated with mesquite, small live oak, and post oak trees, scrub brush, cacti, and grasses. Elevation ranges from approximately 400 to 600 feet. Soils in the northwestern half of the county are deep to moderately deep, often light-colored loams that overlie clayey subsoils and, in places, limestone only forty inches beneath the surface. The cracking, clayey soils in the southeastern half of La Salle County vary from light to black in color. Most of the county is drained by the Nueces River, which flows across the county from the west toward the southeast; the northeastern quarter of La Salle County is drained by the Frio River. In 1982 more than 90 percent of the county was devoted to ranching and farming. Only 3 percent of the land was cultivated; livestock and livestock products accounted for 87 percent of the agricultural income. Temperatures in La Salle County range from an average high of 99° F in July to an average low of 42° in January; the average annual temperature is 71°. Rainfall averages twenty-two inches a year, and the growing season lasts for 288 days. Mineral resources include sand and gravel, oil, gas, and lignite coal. Oil production in 1982 totaled 505,645 barrels; gas production totaled 4,668,423,000 cubic feet of gas-well gas and 350,459,000 cubic feet of casinghead gas.

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