Brazoria

Formed January 8, 1836 (3^rd county)

Brazoria County (313,166), Angleton (18,862), Pearland (91,252)

The Modern courthouse was built in 1940 and is west of the city center along Texas State Highway 35.  A modern addition was attached to the back of the lighter limestone courthouse in 1976.  An additional annex was built in west Angleton in 2003.  Lamar Q. Cato designed the 1940 building.  Brazoria was the county seat until 1897 when it was relocated to Angleton.  The county was organized on January 8, 1836 as one of the original 23 counties (3^rd county.)  One courthouse was in Brazoria while Angleton has had three courthouses.  Brazoria County was named for the Brazos River, which meets the Gulf of Mexico in the county.  It is also the source for Brazos County.  Brazos is Spanish for “arms.”  Angleton, founded as a railroad town, was named for Mrs. George Angle, the wife of the railroad’s general manager. 

Brazoria County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Brazoria, Matagorda, and Wharton counties and Four District Court Judges and Five County Court Judges serve Brazoria County.  The county is located on the coastal plains just west and south of Houston, Texas.  The inlet to Galveston Bay and many smaller inlets dot the eastern coastline border.  The county center is 4.9 miles Northeast of Angleton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Harris and Galveston counties and the Gulf of Mexico and Matagorda, Wharton, and Fort Bend counties. 

The area of the county is 1597 square miles.  It is 17 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 15 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 196.10 persons per square mile making it 28 out of 254 in the state.  Brazoria County has 67.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county is mainly rectangular with many river estuaries, the biggest of which is the Brazos River.  Angleton is slightly south of center in the county.  Pearland is located on the northern border of the county and extends into Fort Bend and Harris counties.  Angleton is the county seat and Pearland is the largest city.  Angleton is 6.0% of the county population while Pearland is 27.7% of the county population.  The county is pronounced BRA-ZOR-E-A.  The county seat is pronounced ANGLE-TON.  This county is in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area.