Willacy County

Willacy County, in the Rio Grande valley of South Texas, is thirty miles north of Mexico; it is bordered by Kenedy, Hidalgo, and Cameron counties and the Gulf of Mexico. The county was the 253rd county to be formed and was named for state senator John G. Willacy. Raymondville, the county's largest town and county seat, is in the north central part of the county on U.S. Highway 77 and the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The center of the county is at 26°27' north latitude and 97°40' west longitude. Other communities in the county are the incorporated towns of Lyford and San Perlita and the unincorporated towns of Lasara, Los Coyotes, Porfirio, Port Mansfield, Santa Monica, Sebastian, and Willamar. Willacy County comprises 589 square miles with an elevation ranging from sea level to fifty feet. The nearly level to undulating terrain of the South Texas Plains is surfaced by dark brown to red loam, over deep, clayey subsoils; the flora includes mesquite, grasses, thorny shrubs, and cacti. Along the Gulf Coast the soils are sandy and saline or cracking and support cordgrasses, seashore saltgrass, and marsh millet. Natural resources included caliche, oil, and gas. The climate is subtropical-humid; tropical storms and hurricanes are possible from June through October. Temperatures range from an average low of 48° F to a high of 69° in January and from 74° to 95° in July. Rainfall averages twenty-seven inches a year, and the growing season lasts for 318 days.

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.