Formed February 1, 1858 (150th county)
Duval County (9,827), San Diego (3,744)
The dark red brick Classical Revival courthouse of Duval County was built in 1916 along Texas State Highway 44 just west of the border with Jim Wells County. Parts of the city of San Diego are in both counties. The firm of Sanguinet, Staats & Gottlieb designed this courthouse. The building was enlarged in 1938 and renovated in 2000. Two courthouses have served the county, both in San Diego, the earlier one was built in 1879. Organized on February 1, 1858, the county was originally part of Nueces, Live Oak, and Starr counties and the 150th county. Duval County was named for Burr H. Duval. He was one of Fannin’s commanders at Goliad and died in the battle. The county seat was named for a local creek. San Diego means “Saint Diego” in Spanish.
Duval County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners. One District Court Judge serves Duval, Jim Hogg, and Starr counties and One County Court Judge serves Duval County. The county is located in lower south-central Texas. Corpus Christi, Texas is east and Laredo, Texas is west of the county. The county center is 27.1 miles West of San Diego nearer Freer. The county is surrounded clockwise by McMullen, Live Oak, Jim Wells, Brooks, Jim Hogg, Webb, and La Salle counties.
The area of the county is 1793 square miles. It is 13 out of 254 in the state. It ranks 166 out of 254 in population in the state. It has a density of 5.5 persons per square mile making it 196 out of 254 in the state. Duval County has 67.5% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 59 cuts across from north to west, McMullen County to Webb County. The county is mainly a tall rectangle with San Diego slightly north but against the east border of the county and extends into Jim Wells County. San Diego is the county seat and the largest city. It is 56.4% of the county population. The county is pronounced DUE-VAL. The county seat is pronounced SAN DEE-A-GOE.
Benavides
Freer
San Diego
