Guadalupe County was created in March 1846 and formed from Gonzales and Bexar Counties. Guadalupe County was named for the Guadalupe River. The County Seat is Seguin. The Official County website is located at http://www.co.guadalupe.tx.us. See also Extended History for more historical details.
The current Guadalupe County courthouse was constructed in 1935 of limestone and designed by architect L.M. Wirtz in Contemporary style. It was built at a cost of $300,000.
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
Guadalupe County Clerk has Court Records from 1846 , Land Records from 1846, Probate Records from 1846, Marriage Records from 1846 and Birth/Death Records from 1903 is located at 101 East Court Street, Suite 208, Seguin, Texas 78155; ph 830.303.8859 . The County Clerk's Office is the record keeper of the county. The county records include birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses, brand registrations, DD214s (military discharges), land / real estate / property records, probate and civil filings.
Below is a list of online resources for Guadalupe County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Guadalupe County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Texas Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Texas Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Vital Records,1100 West 49th Street,
Austin, TX 78756, Please allow up to approximately 6-8 weeks for processing of all type of certificates when ordered through the mail. They have the following records:
Birth Certificates: Birth records maintained by Bureau of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health since 1903 through the present. For births that occurred within the past 75 years, copies can be requested only by the immediate family of the person whose name is on the birth certificate.
Cost: The cost of a birth record is $22.00. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $22.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Death Certificates: Death records maintained by Bureau of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health since 1903 through the present.
For deaths that occurred in the past 25 years, copies can be requested only by immediate family members of the deceased.
Cost: The cost of a certified death certificate is $20.00 for the first copy and $3.00 for each additional copy issued at the same time for the same certificate. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $20.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Marriage & Divorce Certificates: Marriage Verifications from Jan 1966 and Divorce Verifications from Jan 1968. Certified copies of marriage licenses or divorce decrees are only available from the county clerk (marriage) or district clerk (divorce) in the county or district in which the event occurred. Marriage verification or divorce verification letters can now be ordered ELECTRONICALLY
Cost: $20 - Fee is for verification only.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
Order In Person: The certificates may be ordered by coming into this office. If you want the copy the same day, our hours for same day service are 8:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. Monday – Friday. The Texas Vital Statistics Office in Austin is located at 1100 W. 49th Street,
Austin, TX 78756.
Order By Mail: Mail a check or money order (no cash) payable to the "Texas Vital Records " along with the necessary information to the following address: Texas Vital Records, Department of State Health Services, PO Box 12040,
Austin TX 78711-2040. Please include return address on envelope and application form.
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Texas newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29 - Browse by county, then year, then surname, beginning with the first letters of the last name of the person you seek. If you're unsure of the year or location, use the search box under the browse menu. These records can be searched by father's first and last names, mother's first and maiden names, year, county, and city. The certificates include the child and parents' full names, residence, occupations, age, time and date of the birth, and the name of the physician attending the birth.
Texas Death Certificates, 1890-1976 - These records are searchable by first and last name of the deceased, year, county, and city. A certificate may include the decedent's date, place, and cause of death; age; date of birth; last residence; and marital status. If known, it will also include occupation, birth place, parents' names, and place of burial. Browse by county, then year, then surname, beginning with the first letters of the last name of the person you seek. If unsure of the year or location, use the search box under the browse menu.
Click Here to Search Texas Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Guadalupe County, Texas are 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (fragment, see below), 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. The Texas State Library holds microfilm editions for all of Texas' federal censuses. Although the 1850, 1860, and part of the 1870 mortality schedules have been published, all the original mortality schedules are at the Texas State Library and on microfilm The 1830 territorial census of Miller County, Arkansas, enumerates an area that is in today's Texas boundaries. The remaining 1890 population schedules which exist for Texas include: Ellis County (Justice Precinct 6, Mountain Peak, and Ovilla Precinct); Hood County (Precinct 5); Rusk County (No. 6 and Justice Precinct No. 7); Trinity County (town of Trinity and Justice Precinct 2); and Kaufman County (Kaufman). Although Greer County in present-day Oklahoma functioned as part of Texas between 1886 and 1896, the 1890 census for this county was enumerated under Oklahoma Territory.
Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Guadalupe County, Texas are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms
Below is a list of online resources for Guadalupe County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Guadalupe County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Arkansas and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Texas showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Texas showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps.
Below is a list of online resources for Guadalupe County Maps. Email us with websites containing Guadalupe County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Texas Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Guadalupe County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Guadalupe County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Texas (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Texas tax records constitute one of the most complete sets of available records generated at the county level (by the Commissioners Court) because these documents are maintained by the state. These lists may only include approximately sixty percent of eligible males over the age of twenty-one. Persons exempted from taxes included native Americans, "idiots," "incompetents," and those exempted because of age. This final category of exemptions varied over time. Years without an older age exemption were 1840 and 1862-70. Between 1841-44 exemptions began at forty-five years; in 1845 and from 1850-61 the upward age was set at fifty years. In 1837, 1848, and 1849 the limit was established as fifty-five, and in 1846-7, and 1871 the upward limit was set at sixty years.
Texas Ad Valorem (poll, personal, and real property) tax records for 1836 through 1976 are available in microfilm at the Texas State Library from the date of respective county organization; these are arranged by county and date and are somewhat alphabetized within each division. Microfilm copies are housed in the Genealogy Section. Tax lists for the various counties from creation to 1901 may be borrowed through interlibrary loan. Tax records through 1901-1947 are readily accessible, but not on interlibrary loan. Those for 1948 through 1976 can be obtained upon request.
Below is a list of online resources for Guadalupe County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Guadalupe County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Guadalupe County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Guadalupe County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Guadalupe County Genealogical Society,
707 E. College,
Seguin 78155
Texas State Library and Archives Commission, P.O. Box 12927, Austin, TX 78711-2927 Holdings under the auspices of the Texas State Library are divided. Most important for genealogical research are the Texas State Archives with its Local Records Department, the Records Management Division, and the Information Services Division, which includes a Genealogy Section and a Reference Department.
The Genealogy Section maintains vertical ties that contain notes, clippings, pamphlets, and correspondence on Texas families. These files may be accessed in person, by phone (512-463-5463, forty-five minute limit), or through correspondence.
Texas Historical Commision The Texas Historical Commission (THC) is the state agency for historic preservation. THC staff consults with citizens and organizations to preserve Texas' architectural, archeological and cultural landmarks. The agency is recognized nationally for its preservation programs.
Texas Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Texas Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
During Texas's colonization period Roman Catholics were the most numerous, but early citizens included those representing other religious faiths such as Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Christian or Disciples of Christ.
Many cemetery records have been collected and transcribed, including the largest of which is multi-volumes compilation by the DAR and two volumes for Peters Colonists and descendants. The DAR collection, also microfilmed, is available at the Texas State Library and through the FHL.
Some Texas county historical and genealogical societies have published local cemetery and/funeral home records. These are normally available for purchase through the respective society. Two references can help determine which cemeteries have been recorded: Kim Parsons', A Reference to Texas Cemetery Records (Humble, Tex.: by author, 1988), arranged by county; and Sharry Crofford-Gould's, Texas Cemetery Inscriptions: A Source Index (San Antonio, Tex.: Limited Editions, 1977).
Below is a list of online resources for Guadalupe County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Guadalupe County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Texas obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Texas newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Texas.
Click Here to Search Texas Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Guadalupe County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Guadalupe County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Texas Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
The central Texas region, including Guadalupe County, has supported human habitation for several thousand years. Archaeologists believe some of the artifacts found in the area to be from the Archaic Period (ca. 5000 B.C. to 500 A.D.); other pieces are more recent, dating from 1200 to 1500. Indian tribes in the area included the Karankawas, Tonkawas, Comanches, and Lipan Apaches. Hostilities with Indians who camped along the Guadalupe River in the mid-1830s caused many of the early settlers to retreat from their land to Gonzales until more protection could be provided. After the Texas Revolution, the Tonkawas and the Lipan Apaches were friendly toward settlers and often traded with them, but the threat of raids by the Comanches remained until the 1843 council at Bird's Fort. After the Mexican War in 1848, federal troops established a line of forts extending from Fort Worth to Eagle Pass, effectively moving the frontier and the Indians well to the northwest of Guadalupe County. The last Indian raid into the area was made by the Kickapoos in 1855. The Spanish were probably the first Europeans to explore central Texas. Some sources suggest that Álvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca came through this part of central Texas in 1534, but others indicate that his route was farther south. Guadalupe County takes its name from the Guadalupe River, which Alonso de Leon named in 1689 in honor of the Lady of Guadalupe depicted on his standard. The Spanish government made one of the first land grants in the Guadalupe County area to José de la Baume in 1806 for land in the Capote Hills. He had to confirm his claim with the new government after Mexico won its independence from Spain and did not receive clear title until 1832. Between 1827 and 1835 twenty-two families came to the area as part of DeWitt's colony, and fourteen received grants directly from the Mexican government. Most of the settlers during this early period came from the southern United States. Many had land in the eastern part of the region along what came to be called Nash, Darst, and Mill creeks. These early settlers scarcely had time to form even the beginnings of communities before the combination of Indian raids and the Runaway Scrape forced them to retreat to Gonzales.
After the Texas Revolution the new government sent volunteer troops to protect people in remote areas. Those settlers who had left because of the Indians and the Mexican army returned, and others joined them. Much of the land given to Texas veterans for their service during the revolution was located in what became Guadalupe County. A company of Texas Rangers commanded by Capt. John Coffee Hays set up camp at Walnut Springs near the Guadalupe River. In 1838 a group of former Texas Rangers and other settlers founded the community of Walnut Springs on the northeast bank of the Guadalupe; its name was changed to Seguin in 1839 to honor Juan N. Seguin. The presence of troops encouraged many incoming families to stay near Seguin until the area became more secure. As a result, Seguin developed earlier and more rapidly than other communities in the future county and became the region's center of social and economic life. It was the natural choice for county seat when Guadalupe County was formed. The Republic of Texas organized Guadalupe County as a judicial county in 1842, but discontinued it later that year when the Texas Supreme Court declared judicial counties to be unconstitutional. In March 1846, after the annexation of Texas to the United States, the legislature established the present county from parts of Bexar and Gonzales counties. Guadalupe County had an area of 862 square miles in 1846 but lost land in 1858 and 1874, when Blanco and Wilson counties were organized.
Early communities in Guadalupe County had little formal structure. They began as river crossings, mills, churches, or schools that served widely scattered populations. Because of its nearness to Gonzales, the Sycamore community between Nash and Darst creeks was one of the first rural areas to be settled. German immigrants settled in northern and western parts of the county in the mid-1840s as a result of the colonization efforts by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels at New Braunfels. Schumannsville and Clear Springs were established primarily by Germans. By the late 1840s and early 1850s, other settlers had established themselves along York, Mill, Elm, and Santa Clara creeks. The population of the county grew rapidly. The 1850 census reported a total of 1,171 white residents; by 1860 that number had risen to 3,689. Many who immigrated from other southern states brought slaves. The slave population rose from 335 in 1850 to 1,748 in 1860. Most of the slaveholders were small farmers. Of the 202 slaveholders in the county, 20 percent owned only one slave, 28 percent owned two to four, 23 percent owned five to nine, and 27 percent owned between ten and forty. Only three slaveowners had more than forty slaves. For those families who did not live in Seguin proper, the primary occupations were stock raising and farming. The 1860 census reported 395 farms in the county. The amount of improved acreage increased dramatically between 1850 and 1860, rising from 4,433 to 42,115. There were significant increases in harvests and livestock as well. Cotton production rose from 182 bales in 1850 to 3,424 bales in 1860 and corn from 80,330 bushels to 376,425. The number of cattle increased from nearly 11,000 head to over 67,000, horses from just over 1,200 to nearly 13,000, hogs from 4,400 to 18,500, and sheep from 2,100 to nearly 7,600. Wool production rose from 4,281 pounds to 43,672 pounds. On maps of the county, Seguin resembled the center of a bicycle wheel, with roads leading out in all directions like spokes. It was a major market place as well as a shipping point for the rest of the county. When a stage line began operating between New Braunfels and Gonzales in 1847, Seguin was a popular stop. Several Guadalupe County residents found the shipping business to be a profitable venture, although some became involved in the Cart War in 1854 and 1855. Stock raisers in the county began organizing cattle drives to California and New Orleans in the 1850s. As a whole, the county did very well economically before the Civil War. Between 1850 and 1860 the value of area farms and livestock increased nearly 600 percent.
The people who settled the county placed great value on education. Residents of Seguin worked to establish Guadalupe College in 1848 and organized the Guadalupe High School Association in 1849. When the association had financial difficulties in the 1850s, the women of the area held a craft sale and supper to raise money, and the men held a fair. Often churches in Seguin ran private schools, such as the Montgomery Institute. The Lutheran Church operated Seguin's public schools in the 1880s and established Texas Lutheran College at Seguin in 1912. Nearly every community in Guadalupe County either had its own school or was near a community that did. Schools such as Live Oak, Elm Creek, Tiemann, Cibolo Valley, and Geronimo provided the basic educational structure of the county until the district system was established in 1901. The Methodists supposedly established the first church in the county at Seguin in 1841. Services were held at the county courthouse until the church building was completed in 1849. By 1853 Seguin had Baptist, Presbyterian, and Episcopal congregations, in addition to Methodist. The Lutheran Church was organized in 1869. Catholics in the area occasionally received sacraments from a visiting bishop, but more frequently traveled to San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio. Most communities in outlying areas had a small church of some sort that doubled as a schoolhouse and served as the center of social life for those people who could not go all the way to Seguin. When cars came into general use, many of the small churches closed, and their congregations began attending services in Seguin.
Guadalupe County was staunchly Democratic before the Civil War. When the Seguin Mercury, the county's first newspaper, began publication in 1853, residents took great interest in state and national affairs. There was enough difference of opinion to encourage the publication of a second newspaper, the Seguin Journal, in 1856. The 1857 gubernatorial campaign provided lively copy; the Journal supported Sam Houston and French Smith for governor and lieutenant governor, and the Mercury supported the states' rights candidates Hardin R. Runnels and Francis R. Lubbock.q The Mercury changed its name to the Southern Confederacy in February 1861, and the Journal became the Union Democrat. Support for the Confederacy proved to be the majority opinion, however. John Ireland and William P. Hardeman,q two secessionists, represented the county at the Secession Convention held in Austin on January 28, 1861, and voters in Guadalupe County approved the secession ordinance by a 314 to 22 margin. In the spring of 1861 Nathaniel Benton organized the first Guadalupe County company to fight for the Confederacy. The men trained at Camp Clark before going to Virginia as Company D of the Fourth Regiment of Texas Volunteers of Hood's Texas Brigade. Benton, who was unable go to Virginia with Company D, later organized a volunteer cavalry company, which became Company B of the Thirty-second Texas Cavalry Regiment under Peter Cavanaugh Woods. In the fall of 1861 John Ireland recruited a group that became Company K of the Eighth Texas Regiment, which served along the Texas coast and in Louisiana. The Guadalupe Rebels, an independent military company that was organized in July 1861, trained at Camp Beauregard near the site of present McQueeney, but later dispersed to merge with other troops. A group known as the Guadalupe Rangers, a volunteer cavalry company organized in September 1861 by John Preston White, became part of the Twenty-fifth Brigade of the Texas Militia. During the war one of the major shipping routes to Mexico crossed the Guadalupe River near Seguin, giving Guadalupe County access to markets in spite of the Union blockade of Confederate ports, but manufactured goods, sugar, coffee, medicines, and cash remained in short supply. Because most men of military age had enlisted in the Confederate Army by the end of 1861, women, children, old men, and slaves were left to keep up family farms. Many acres lay idle for lack of enough people to work them.
Although the end of the war was welcome, many people had no desire have their local government "reconstructed." Residents of Guadalupe County chose John Ireland as delegate to the state constitutional convention that met in Austin on February 7, 1866, and elected Nathaniel Benton chief justice in July 1866. Although these men received amnesty and were acceptable officeholders according to the presidential reconstruction plan, they and most of the other new county officials were removed from their offices in November 1867. In spite of threatened violence and bitter feelings on the part of residents, however, Guadalupe saw little of the bitter strife that many other counties experienced during this period. A Freedmen's Bureau office opened in Seguin in 1866 and supervised work contracts between former slaves and area farmers until 1868. Some blacks stayed in Seguin; others became sharecroppers or tenant farmers; still others settled in the southeastern part of the county. The communities of Capote and Sweet Home were established by former slaves. As a percentage of the total population, the number of blacks in the county steadily declined, falling from a high of 34 percent in 1870 to 6 percent in 1980. In real numbers the black population, which numbered 2,534 in 1870, peaked at 5,681 in 1910 and fell to 3,155 by 1980.
The county voted Democratic in presidential elections from the end of Reconstruction until 1892. By the turn of the century, bitter feelings had receded, perhaps tempered by those people who had arrived after the Civil War. In 1896 the county voted Republican, preferring William McKinley to William Jennings Bryan, and contrary to the usual voting trends in the state. Democratic presidential candidates carried the county only five times between 1896 and 1992: Woodrow Wilson in 1912, Al Smith in 1928, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
Guadalupe County suffered a severe economic decline immediately following the Civil War and throughout the Reconstruction period. In 1866 residents experienced a 69 percent loss in taxable property. About 35 percent of the lost property was in slaves; the rest came from declines in total farm acreage, farm value, and livestock value, each of which had fallen nearly 50 percent by the time of the 1870 census. The county received a much-needed economic boost in the mid-1870s when construction of the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway began. The railroad reached Seguin in 1876 and was completed to San Antonio in 1877, giving residents of Guadalupe County easier access to markets. The towns of Kingsbury, Marion, McQueeney, Cibolo, and Schertz grew up along the railroad. Area farmers could sell livestock for good prices without the risks involved in extended cattle drives. Many farmers imported fencing supplies and heavy ginning machinery. Cotton became a major crop after the county recovered from the Civil War and Reconstruction. In 1880 farmers planted over 16,000 acres in cotton, 12 percent of the county's improved acreage; by 1900 cotton covered more than 100,000 acres, 59 percent of the improved land. Production peaked in 1900 at 38,960 bales. As farmers continued to devote more land to cotton, the soil became depleted, resulting in fewer bales per acre. By 1930 118,300 acres yielded only 8,266 bales. The low yields, combined with the onset of the Great Depression, encouraged farmers to plant more corn or to devote more of their resources to livestock. The poultry industry, which had been growing steadily since the 1880s, took a sizable jump, from 171,000 in 1920 to 268,000 in 1930. Tenant farming and sharecropping, which had accounted for the operation of 25 percent of the county's farms in 1880, increased steadily, peaking at 64 percent in 1930. The depression forced some people, many of them tenants, to leave the county; farms lost nearly 50 percent of their value between 1930 and 1940. The population of the county fell by nearly 10 percent during this period. The tenant system declined as the economy improved in the 1940s. By 1950 only about a quarter of the farms were run by tenants; that figure had declined to 6 percent by 1982.
Between 1870 and 1910 the number of immigrants coming to Guadalupe County rose dramatically. People arrived from Russia, Poland, England, Wales, Ireland, France, Austria, and Switzerland. The greatest increase, however, was in arrivals from Mexico. In 1870 there were 130 native Mexicans, less than 2 percent of the county's total population; by 1910 there were 2,863, representing 11½ percent of the population. Some of the new immigrants were able to buy land of their own. Others worked on cotton farms as laborers, sharecroppers, or tenants, partially filling the gap in the work force caused by the abolition of slavery. The German-Americans were the dominant influence in the shaping of the county's cultural identity. By the 1880s more than 40 percent of the population was of German descent. The immigration rate from 1870 to 1900 was such that native Germans consistently represented about 10 percent of the population. As World War I began in Europe in 1914, many German-Americans in the county were sympathetic to the German cause. When the United States entered the war three years later, the atmosphere became very emotionally charged. Things German were often viewed with suspicion and tended to be suppressed. The end of the war soothed strained relationships as well as relieving the worries of soldiers' families.
The Guadalupe River was developed in the late 1920s and early 1930s as a source of hydroelectric power. A series of privately owned dams channelled water through generating plants, providing electricity for the surrounding area. Lakes Dunlap and McQueeney, as well as several smaller lakes, were formed by the dams and have become popular recreational sites. Oil was discovered by H. H. Weinert in eastern Guadalupe County in the early 1920s (in the Darst Creek oilfield), and although the new industry in no way rivalled agriculture in its importance to the county's economy, it did provide some diversity. The Luling, Dunlap, Darst, and La Vernia fields were still active in the 1980s. In 1982 wells in the county produced 1,693,730 barrels of crude oil and 976,823 cubic feet of gas. Although no war supply contracts or facility projects were assigned to Guadalupe County in the 1940s, the area did take part in the economic prosperity generated by World War II. Manufacturing establishments in the county more than doubled the number of their employees between 1940 and 1947. The per capita wage doubled as well. The county's proximity to San Antonio encouraged many residents to commute. In agriculture, emphasis continued to shift from cotton to grains and livestock as a part of the war effort.
In the 1980s as much as 80 percent of the land in Guadalupe County was used for farming and ranching. Among the primary crops were sorghum, hay, oats, wheat, and corn; watermelon and peaches were also popular, and the county's pecan production was sixth in the state. Over 70 percent of the county's agricultural receipts in 1982 came from livestock and livestock products, mainly cattle, hogs, poultry, and milk. Although agriculture continued to be a important aspect of the economy, farm receipts represented only 12 percent of the county's annual income in 1985. Professional and related services, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade involved nearly 60 percent of the work force in 1982. Mineral resources, including ceramic clay, industrial sand, oil, gas, and lignite coal, gave residents the opportunity to diversify their interests. In recent years many people have moved to Guadalupe County from San Antonio, choosing to live in Guadalupe County and work in Bexar. In 1982 46 percent of the work force was employed outside the county. Between 1960 and 1980 the population of Guadalupe County rose nearly 40 percent, from 29,017 to 46,708; in 1990 the population was 64,873. Local attractions include Lake McQueeney, touted as the "water ski capitol of Texas" and numerous historic homes and buildings.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29