Val Verde County

Historical marker location:

400 Pecan Street, Del Rio, Texas

( On the west side of the County Courthouse, just inside the sidewalk ringing Courthouse Square, near the center of the west side of the Square on the left side of the sidewalk that approaches the west entrance to the Courthouse.)

Marker installed: 2012

VAL VERDE COUNTY LIES IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS NEAR THE BORDER WITH MEXICO AND ON THE SOUTHWESTERN EDGE OF THE EDWARDS PLATEAU. HOME TO MANY PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES, THE COUNTY WAS ALSO INHABITED AND VISITED BY NATIVE AMERICANS AND EUROPEANS, SOME AS THEY WERE PASSING TO AND FROM MEXICO. ALTHOUGH THE SOIL IN THE COUNTY IS NOT PERFECT FOR FARMING, THE LARGE AREA IS IDEAL FOR GRAZING AND INCLUDES MANY RIVERS AND CREEKS.

THE LAND THAT IS NOW VAL VERDE COUNTY WAS ASSIGNED TO BEXAR COUNTY IN 1836, ALONG WITH MOST OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS. BEGINNING IN THE 1850s, THE FORMATION OF COUNTIES IN THIS AREA BEGAN. FORMING A GATEWAY TO MEXICO, DEL RIO (ORIGINALLY SAN FELIPE DEL RIO) WAS ESTABLISHED NEAR THE RIO GRANDE IN KINNEY COUNTY IN THE 1860s. IN 1882, THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD REACHED DEL RIO, BYPASSING BRACKETTVILLE, THE COUNTY SEAT OF KINNEY COUNTY. FROM 1882 TO 1885, DEMAND TO CREATE A NEW COUNTY WITH DEL RIO AS THE COUNTY SEAT INCREASED. AFTER AN INITIAL DEFEAT IN THE LEGISLATURE, THE COUNTY WAS ORGANIZED IN 1885 AND OFFICIALS WERE ELECTED. THE COUNTY WAS CARVED FROM PARTS OF CROCKETT, KINNEY AND PECOS COUNTIES.

THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME VAL VERDE IS THE SUBJECT OF DEBATE. SOME ARGUE THAT THE NAME IS IN HONOR OF THE BATTLE NEAR FORT CRAIG, NEW MEXICO IN 1862, WHILE OTHERS MAINTAIN THAT THE NAME, SPANISH FOR “GREEN VALLEY,” IS PURELY AN ENVIRONMENTAL DESCRIPTION. THE POPULATION OF THE COUNTY CONTINUES TO GROW AND SUPPORTS NUMEROUS SHEEP, GOAT AND CATTLE RANCHES, LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, TOURISM AND TRADE WITH MEXICO.

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