Calhoun

Formed March 1, 1846 (38^th county)

Calhoun County (20,105), Port Lavaca (11,549)                

The Modern appearance to the concrete and steel courthouse, built in 1959, gives it a government look.  After the county was organized on March 1, 1846, the city of Port Lavaca has been the site for three courthouses.  Lavaca had a courthouse from 1846 to 1857 and Indianola housed a courthouse from approximately 1857 to 1887.  Calhoun County was carved from parts of Jackson, Matagorda, and Victoria counties as the 38^th county.  The building sits south and west of United States Highway 87 on Benavides and Leona.  The architect for the courthouse was Rustay and Martin.  An Annex supports the courthouse.  Calhoun was named for early United States Vice President John C. Calhoun.  Port Lavaca derives its name from the Spanish term la vaca, “the cow,” and its position on the Gulf of Mexico as a cattle-shipping point.  Lavaca County has the same derivative. 

Calhoun County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  Three District Court Judges serve Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Refugio, and Victoria counties and Two County Court Judges serve Calhoun County.  The county is situated on the coastal plains along the Gulf of Mexico.  Houston, Texas is north and east and Corpus Christi, Texas is south and west.  The county center is 6.2 miles South of Port Lavaca nearer Alamo Beach.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Jackson and Matagorda counties and the Gulf of Mexico and Aransas, Refugio, and Victoria counties. 

The area of the county is 512 square miles.  It is 238 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 119 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 39.3 persons per square mile making it 90 out of 254 in the state.  Calhoun County has 65.4% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 87 comes from the northwest, Victoria County, and terminates in the county.  The county has three straight sides on the northeast, north, and northwest.  The estuaries for the Guadalupe and Lavaca Rivers are the southwest and east borders.  The Gulf of Mexico dominates the south.  Port Lavaca is slightly north of center on the west coast of Lavaca Bay.  Port Lavaca is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 57.4% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced PORT LA-VA-KA.  This county is in the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area.