Kleberg

Formed January 1, 1913 (251^st county)

Kleberg County (31,038), Kingsville (25,402)

The Texas Renaissance courthouse was built in 1914 on a square at Kleberg Avenue and 11^th Street.  United States Highway 77 Business is two blocks east and Texas State Highway 141 is one block south of the site.  Atlee B. Ayres is the designer of this brown brick and concrete structure.  The courthouse was restored in 2019 and an Annex was added in 1966.  The county was organized on January 1, 1913 and this is the only courthouse that has been used.  The county was originally part of Nueces County as the 251^st county.  Kleberg County was named for Robert Justus Kleberg a German settler who fought at the Battle of San Jacinto.  The county seat was named for Captain Richard and Henrietta King, founders of the famous King Ranch, which partially lies in the county.  King County is named for another person. 

Kleberg County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Kleberg, Kenedy, and Nueces counties and Two County Court Judges serve Kleberg County.  The county is located on the coastal plains southwest of Corpus Christi, Texas and north of Brownsville, Texas.  The Gulf of Mexico and Padre Island are the entire eastern border.  The county center is 8.7 miles Southeast of Kingsville nearer Ricardo.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Nueces County and the Gulf of Mexico and Kenedy, Brooks, and Jim Wells counties. 

The area of the county is 871 square miles.  It is 179 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 93 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 35.6 persons per square mile making it 98 out of 254 in the state.  Kleberg County has 81.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 77 crosses north to south, Nueces County to Kenedy County.  The county is mainly rectangular with a top hat on the northwest corner.  Kingsville is in the northwest corner of in the county.  Kingsville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 81.8% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KLAE-BURG.  This county is in the Kingsville Micropolitan Statistical Area.