Hardin County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 56,231. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is Kountze. The county is named for the family of William Hardin from

Liberty County, Texas Liberty County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 91,628. The county seat is Liberty. The county was created in 1831 as a municipality in Mexico and organized as a county in 1837. It is named for ...

. Hardin County is part of the Beaumont- Port Arthur, TX

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

History

The county is named for the family of William Hardin (1801-1839), a settler, judge, and postmaster. The Hardin family cemetery is located north of Liberty. The current Hardin County Courthouse was built in 1959. It is at least the third courthouse to serve Hardin County.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which (0.8%) are covered by water. Hardin County is located on the flat coastal plains of

Southeast Texas Southeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the U.S. state of Texas, bordering Southwest Louisiana and its greater Acadiana region to the east. Being a part of East Texas, the region is geographically centered on the Greater Houston ...

, roughly north of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. The county is largely covered by the dense forest of the

Big Thicket The Big Thicket is the name given to a somewhat imprecise region of a heavily-forested area of Southeast Texas in the United States. This area represents a portion of the mixed pine-hardwood forests of southeast US. The National Park Service esta ...

. It is crossed by numerous small streams and creeks that drain the county into the

Neches River The Neches River () begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, ...

, which forms the eastern boundary of the county.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 69 U.S. Route 69 (US 69) is a major north–south United States highway. When it was first created, it was only long, but it has since been expanded into a Minnesota to Texas cross-country route. The highway's southern terminus (as well as ...

/ U.S. Highway 287 * U.S. Highway 96 * State Highway 105 * State Highway 326 * State Highway 327

Adjacent counties

* Tyler County (northern) * Jasper County (east) * Orange County (southeast) * Jefferson County (south) * Liberty County (southwest) * Polk County (northwest) Its eastern boundaries with Jasper County and Orange County are formed by the Neches River. The southern boundary with Jefferson County is formed by Pine Island Bayou

National protected area

* Big Thicket National Preserve (part)

Communities

Cities

* Kountze (county seat) * Lumberton * Rose Hill Acres * Silsbee *

Sour Lake Sour Lake is a city in Hardin County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,773 at the 2020 census. It was originally named "Sour Lake Springs", after the sulphurous spring water that flowed into the nearby lake. The city is part of the Beaum ...

Census-designated places

* Pinewood Estates * Wildwood (partly in Tyler County)

Unincorporated communities

* Batson * Honey Island * Saratoga *

Thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in t ...

* Village Mills * Votaw

Ghost town

* Bragg

Demographics

''Note: the U.S. Census Bureau treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the 2010 census, Hardin County had a population of 54,635. The ethnic and racial composition of the population was 88.0% non-Hispanic white, 5.8% African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 1.3% from some other race, and 1.3% from two or more races. As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, 48,073 people, 17,805 households, and 13,638 families resided in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 54 people/sq mi (21/km²). The 19,836 housing units averaged 22/sq mi (9/km²). The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the county was 90.86% White, 6.91% Black or African American, 0.32% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.74% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. About 2.54% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. Of the 17,805 households, 37.2% had children under 18 living with them, 62.6% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.4% were not families; 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.09. In the county, the age distribution was 27.8% under 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.4 males. The median income for a household in the county was $37,612, and for a family was $42,890. Males had a median income of $35,881 versus $22,823 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $17,962. About 8.8% of families and 11.20% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

United States Congress

References

External links

Hardin County government's website

Hardin County in ''Handbook of Texas Online''
at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

{{Coord, 30.34, -94.39, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1858 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1858 Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area