San Patricio County was created in 1836
(Organized
in 1837; Reorganized in 1847) and formed as an Original
County. San Patricio County was named for the Mexican Municipality of San Patricio. The County Seat is Sinton. The Official County website is located at http://co.san-patricio.tx.us. See also Extended History for more historical details.
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.
San Patricio County Clerkhas Court Records from 1848, Land Records from 1846 , Probate Records from 1847, Marriage Records from 1858 and Birth/Death Records from 1903 is located at 400 West Sinton Street, Room 124, Sinton, TX 78387; Phone: 361-364-6290. 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 San Patricio County Court Records. Email us with websites containing San Patricio 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 San Patricio 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 San Patricio 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 San Patricio County Census Records. Email us with websites containing San Patricio 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 San Patricio County Maps. Email us with websites containing San Patricio 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 San Patricio County Military Records. Email us with websites containing San Patricio 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 San Patricio County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing San Patricio 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 San Patricio County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing San Patricio County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
South Texas Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 754, Beeville, TX 78104
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 San Patricio County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing San Patricio 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 San Patricio County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing San Patricio 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.
A number of Spanish and French explorers, including Alonso Álvarez de Pineda, Alonso De León, Jean Béranger, Diego Ortiz Parrilla, and José de Evia traveled through what is now San Patricio County. An expedition led by Pineda explored the bays behind Aransas Pass in 1519, while De León's expeditions of 1689 and 1691 sailed up and down the coast investigating the bays and probably entered Aransas Pass. Béranger's trips into the bays are well chronicled in his own journal. In 1712 and 1718 a party of French came ashore on St. Joseph Island, and later Ortiz Parrilla was instrumental in advancing the knowledge of the area with his explorations in the Nueces River valley. José de Evia made the field notes that turned into the Langara map, which features this area. Mexican sheepherders also camped in what is now San Patricio County before the era of colonization.
In 1828 empresarios John McMullen and James McGloin contracted with the government of Mexico to settle 200 Irish Catholic families on eighty leagues of land in the area. The first groups of families, recruited from the Irish population of New York, landed at El Cópano and Matagorda in late 1829; two other groups soon followed. After a brief stopover at the old Refugio mission, the colonists proceeded to the north side of the Nueces River and established the town of San Patricio de Hibernia, named after the patron saint of Ireland. In 1834 the colony was legally established as the Municipality of San Patricio in the Mexican state of Coahuila and Texas. By 1836 eighty-four land grants had been made in the colony, and about 500 people were living there. The area was engulfed in fighting during the early stages of the Texas Revolution. Fort Lipantitlán, built in 1833 across the Nueces near the colony, surrendered to a company of the colony's settlers in 1835. In February 1836 a detachment of Texans commanded by Francis W. Johnson encountered a Mexican force in the town of San Patricio. All but four of the Texans were killed or captured. Most of the colonists subsequently moved to Victoria and other havens. San Patricio County was established in 1836 by the Congress of the new Republic of Texas. Far larger than the current county, the original San Patricio County included territory later incorporated into other counties. Its original residents were slow to move back into the area, however, for fear of the periodic Mexican incursions; a Mexican force under Gen. Ráfael Vásquez raided the San Patricio area as late as 1842. The county was officially designated a "depopulated area" by the government during most of this time, though traders, soldiers, and various adventurers traveled through. By 1841 San Patricio County once again had a small number of more or less permanent residents. The area was not really stabilized, however, until Gen. Zachary Taylor moved his army into the region after Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845. Taylor's army briefly camped near the site of present Rockport, and after the Mexican War began, reinforcements and supplies for the American army flowed through the county. In 1845 Corpus Christi was designated the county's seat of government and remained so until 1846, when San Patricio County lost all of its territory south of the Nueces River to the newly established Nueces County. That year the town of San Patricio became San Patricio County's seat. In 1848 more new counties were formed, and the county was further reduced in size.
In 1850 the county was only beginning to recover from the turmoil and dislocations occasioned by the Texas Revolution. The United States census counted only 200 people, including three slaves, living in the area. According to the agricultural census for that year, farms in the county encompassed 40,465 acres. Cattle raising remained the focus of the local economy. About 500 milk cows, 1,200 cattle, and 150 sheep were reported. Crop cultivation had not yet become established. Only 4,400 bushels of corn, the county's most important crop at that time, were produced that year. With the threat of raids by the Mexican army removed and the Indians pushed out of the area, more people began to move into the county. John G. Hatch settled in the southeastern part of the county area in 1854, and the Engleside post office was soon established on the Cross S Ranch. Youngs Coleman established a ranch on Chiltipin Creek about the same time. The White brothers, Eddie and Frank, settled in the White Point area in 1856, and Col. W. A. Means established Meansville in the southern part of the county before 1860. Cattle drives moved out from the area in the late 1850s, providing the area's main source of income; meanwhile, crop cultivation was slowly spreading in the southeastern section of the county. In 1858 the county was reduced in size one last time, and its present boundaries were established. By 1860 the population had increased to 620, including ninety-five slaves. That year there were fifty-one farms and ranches (three acres or larger) in the area. Cattle continued to dominate the local economy. More than 48,000 cattle were reported in San Patricio County in 1860; almost 4,000 sheep, producing 6,440 pounds of wool, were also reported. Meanwhile only 1,700 acres were described as "improved," and only 475 bushels of corn, along with small amounts of sweet potatoes, potatoes, beans, and peas, were produced that year. The Civil War brought further changes. While the area was far removed from the main battle lines, it was on the "Cotton Road" to Matamoros, Mexico, which became a major center of cotton smuggling after the Union government imposed a blockade on the South. A Confederate fort was built at Aransas Pass, federal ships appeared in 1862 to harass smugglers, and federal raiding parties periodically came ashore near Ingleside, burning houses and confiscating livestock. During the war the county was also plagued by bands of rustlers who preyed on local herds. To avoid various threats to their well-being, many people living in the Ingleside area felt compelled to move to Goliad during the war. Meanwhile, the hanging of Josefa (Chipita) Rodríguez in 1863 demonstrated the prejudice many whites in the area harbored against Mexicans and Mexican Americans.
Towards the end of the Civil War and in the years immediately following, settlers from other parts of the south in search of cheap land moved into San Patricio County. The new immigrants were especially concentrated in the southern parts of the county. Around 1870 Sidney G. Borden started Sharpsburg, which soon outstripped San Patricio in population and was the county's only port. By 1870 there were 602 people, including sixty-four blacks, living in San Patricio County. The agricultural census reported fifty-one farms and ranches, encompassing 52,000 acres, in the area; about 2,400 acres were described as "improved." While ranching continued to dominate the local economy, crop cultivation was beginning to take hold, and 21,325 bushels of corn were produced that year. In 1871 Thomas M. Coleman and Col. George W. Fulton joined with J. M. and Thomas H. Mathis in a partnership that formed the largest cattle firm in Texas. The Coleman, Mathis, and Fulton partnership, which held acreage in San Patricio, Goliad, and Aransas counties, flourished until an eighteen-month drought in 1878-79 wiped out much of its stock. When the partnership was dissolved in 1879 T. H. Mathis, who was awarded 64,000 acres of the firm's land, began plans to develop a townsite on his property. The remaining partners formed the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company in 1880. The ranch headquarters was established at Rincon, seven miles north of the site of present Gregory; the headquarters soon became a community with its own school. The United States census counted 1,010 people living in the county in 1880, but the area's ranching economy had been ravaged by the drought. There were only thirty-six farms and ranches in 1880, and fewer than 7,000 cattle were reported that year. About 1,200 acres were planted in corn, the county's most important crop at that time; six acres were planted in cotton. The economy began to develop more rapidly after 1885, when the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway was built to the newly laid-out Aransas Harbor. By the 1890s towns such as Mathis, Sinton, and Gregory had been established along the railroad. Development of the area was significantly encouraged by out-of-state investors, especially David B. Sinton, a wealthy Ohio banker who was an old friend of Fulton's. Sinton and his son-in-law, Charles P. Taft, became major partners in the Coleman-Fulton Pasture Company. The ranch soon became known as the Taft Ranch. In 1893, after the Coleman-Fulton company donated 640 acres for a townsite near the center of the county, the Sinton Town Company was formed to develop the site. The new town, called Sinton, became the county seat later that year. In 1896 the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway began to build into the county. Rockport, established in neighboring Aransas County in 1898, was envisioned by ambitious developers as a deep-water port that would serve as the hub of an extensive transportation network. Land values in the area began to rise significantly, though the population was still growing very slowly; as new towns appeared in the county, old settlements like San Patricio and Round Lake began to fade away. By 1900 there were 1,312 people living in the county. The agricultural economy recovered and grew during this period. By 1900 there were 190 farms and ranches, encompassing over 102,000 acres, in San Patricio County, and 34,000 cattle were reported in the area. About 2,000 acres were planted in corn that year, and 2,100 acres were devoted to cotton.
The development of the county intensified during the first years of the twentieth century, and particularly after 1909, when land agents began to widely advertise San Patricio County property to prospective farmers. New towns such as Odem (1904), St. Paul (1909), Edroy (1910), Taft, and Sodville sprang up along the railroads, as hundreds of new farmers moved into the area from northern Texas and other states. Meanwhile, trainloads of laborers were brought in from Mexico to clear the land of mesquite and prepare it for farming; large numbers remained to work in the fields, shaping the cultural and social development of the area. There were 470 farms in the county by 1910 and 757 farms by 1920. Meanwhile, the population grew to 7,307 by 1910 and to 11,386 by 1920. Though ranching remained important, crop farming emerged during this period as the most important element of the agricultural economy. Many farmers produced vegetables for urban markets, but cotton became the area's most important crop. About 15,000 acres were planted in cotton in 1910, and more than 60,000 acres in 1920; by 1930, 155,000 acres in the county were devoted to growing the fiber. As ranchland was converted to cropland the number of cattle dropped from 41,145 in 1910 to 17,006 by 1930. There were 1,626 farms in the county by 1930, but many of the new farmers did not own the lands they worked. Farm tenancy rates increased along with the expansion of cotton cultivation. By 1930 more than two-thirds (1,128) of the county's farmers were tenants; only 342 fully owned their lands.
Oil and gas discoveries in the region during the 1910s and 1920s helped to diversify the local economy, and in 1926 a gas pipeline was laid from neighboring Refugio County gasfields to Aransas. San Patricio County's population more than doubled during the 1920s, and by 1930 there were 23,836 people living there. Many farmers suffered during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Low prices, federal crop restrictions, and other factors combined to drive tens of thousands of acres out of production. Cropland declined from 179,279 acres in 1930 to 149,462 acres in 1940; cotton acreage fell by more than a third during this period. Hundreds of farmers were forced off the land, and by 1940 only 1,089 farms (and only 557 tenants) remained in the county. These setbacks were offset to some extent, however, when the county's oil and gas industry grew significantly during the mid-1930s. In 1938, 6,087,000 barrels of oil were produced in the county.
The area's population grew to 28,871 by 1940, and agriculture revived during the 1940s, but farm mechanization and consolidation led to a continuing decrease in the number of farms. By 1959 there were only 816 farms (393 operated by tenants) in the county. Though cotton production remained relatively high, sorghum became an increasingly important crop. The area's petroleum industry continued to flourish until the 1970s, when production began to decline significantly. Almost 10,870,000 barrels of oil were produced in the county in 1944, 16,166,000 barrels in 1956, over 11,764,000 barrels in 1960, and 10,254,000 barrels in 1965. Production dropped to 5,780,000 barrels by 1974, however, and to 3,648,000 barrels by 1982. Just under 2,078,000 barrels of crude were produced in 1990; by January 1, 1991, 468,841,000 barrels of oil had been taken from Patricio County lands since 1930. Meanwhile, the county's population increased to 28,871 by 1950, to 35,842 by 1960, to 47,288 by 1970, and to 58,013 by 1980. In the 1980s Reynolds Metals operated a plant on Corpus Christi Bay to extract alumina from bauxite, which was shipped in from Africa, Australia, and Brazil. Dow and Occidental chemical companies also had large plants on the ship channel in the 1980s. Two of the world's largest marine rig builders operated on the bay, and Ingleside was designated the homeport for the United States Navy's Battleship Wisconsin battle group. Aransas Pass was home to about 300 shrimp boats, and seafood landed in Aransas Pass and Ingleside earned more than $60 million annually. In 1990 there were 59,288 people living in the county. Whites constituted 50 percent of the population, Hispanics 48 percent, and blacks just under 2 percent.
The voters of San Patricio County supported Democratic candidates in virtually every presidential election between 1848 and 1988. The only exceptions occurred in 1928, when a majority voted for Republican Herbert Hoover; in 1972, when they backed Republican Richard Nixon; and in 1982, when Republican Ronald Reagan took the county. In the 1992 presidential election, a plurality of voters supported Democrat Bill Clinton over Republican George Bush and Ross Perot, the independent candidate. There are eight incorporated cities in the county, including Sinton (1990 population: 5,995), the seat of government; Mathis (5,856); Odem (2,433); Taft (3,636); Gregory (2,752); Portland, (12,807, partly in Nueces County); Ingleside (5,912); Aransas Pass (7,398, partly in Nueces and Aransas counties); and San Patricio (245, partly in Nueces County). Edroy and St. Paul are not incorporated. Special events include the World Champion Rattlesnake Races held at San Patricio in March, the Fish-A-Rama held in Mathis each May, and the Shrimporee held in Aransas Pass each May. Taft hosts a Boll Weevil Festival in September, and an Old Fiddler's Festival is held in Sinton in October.
Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-10, 1926-29