Willacy County, Texas
Willacy County is located 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.
Cities, Towns & Communities
Bausell | Ellis | Lasara (La Sara) | Los Coyotes | Lyford | Lyford South | Porfirio | Port Mansfield | Raymondville – county seat | Santa Monica | San Perlita | Sebastian (Stillman) | Willamar | Zapata Ranch
Courthouses
The current Willacy County Courthouse was built in 1922 after Raymondville became the county seat in 1921. The Classic Revival style building is a grand three-story brick structure with limestone details, a heavy limestone cornice and paired monumental Ionic columns flank the main entries. The building is a Historic Texas Courthouse.
Willacy County’s first courthouse was built in 1917 in Sarita. When Kenedy County was organized in 1921, Sarita and the courthouse became part of Kenedy county.
History
Formed from Cameron and Hidalgo counties; created March 11, 1911, recreated April 2, 1921; organized August 12, 1911, reorganized August 13, 1921. Named in honor of John G. Willacy; born November 10, 1859; member of the Texas Legislature 1900-1916; State Tax Commissioner, 1922-1926; County Seat, Sarita, 1911, Raymondville, since 1921. Historical Marker Text, 1936.
Texas’ Last Frontier: A Brief History of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, 1917; reprinted, 1962; by Frank Cushman Pierce, Rio Grande Valley Historical Society.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, 1954, by J. Lee and Lillian J. Stambaugh.
A Century of Service: The History of the Catholic Church in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, 1979, by Gilberto Rafael and Martha Oppert Cruz.
Location
Raymondville, TX 26° 28′ 53.2452″ N, 97° 46′ 58.9836″ W
See map: Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, MapQuest
