Orange County, Texas

Orange County is a county located in the very southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Texas, sharing a boundary with Louisiana, within the Golden Triangle of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 84,808. The county seat is the city of Orange, and it falls within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area.

History
Orange County was formed in 1852 from portions of Jefferson County. It was named after the orange fruit, the common citrus fruit grown by the early settlers of this county near the mouth of the Sabine River. Due to periodic spells of quite cold winter weather (frosts) in Orange County, it is no longer the home of orange trees and citrus orchards. The production of those fruits in Texas long ago was moved a long way southwest into the Rio Grande Valley, where the weather is almost always warm all winter long. Citrus trees produce their fruit in the wintertime, which makes them especially vulnerable to frost and icy weather.

A similar thing has happened in Florida, where orchards of citrus trees no longer exist in either Citrus County or Orange County because of bad winter freezes in some years. In both Florida and Texas, the citrus agriculture has been moved farther south in search of milder winters, and away from the periodic frosts.

During World War II, Orange County was the home of a large amount of shipbuilding for the navies the United States and allied countries. The major shipbuilder, Consolidated Steel Corporation, was located in the town of Orange, and among the warships that it built were the USS Aulick (DD-569) (1942), the first warship built there, the USS Pope (DE-134) (1943), and the USS Carpenter (DD-825) (1945–46), the last warship built there. During the war, the Consolidate Steel Corporation employed as many as 20,000 people at its shipyard in Orange.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 380 sqmi, of which 334 sqmi are land and 46 sqmi (12%) are covered by water.

Orange County is bordered on its east by the Sabine River, on its southeast by Sabine Lake, and on the northwest by the Neches River.

The geography of Orange County varies relatively little, with an elevation that reaches 33 ft above sea level at very few points within the county. Orange County is very flat, and its soil is quite sandy, as could be expected in a county along the Gulf of Mexico. (Sandy soil is also common in southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and in western and southern Florida.) Saltwater marshes occur in much of the southeastern part of Orange County that borders the Sabine River. The Piney Woods are in the northern part of the county.

Adjacent counties and parishes

 * Jasper County (north)
 * Newton County (north)
 * Hardin County (northwest)
 * Jefferson County (west)
 * Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana (east)
 * Cameron Parish, Louisiana (southeast)

National protected area

 * Big Thicket National Preserve (part)

Cities

 * Bridge City
 * Orange (county seat)
 * Pine Forest
 * Pinehurst
 * Port Arthur (mostly in Jefferson County)
 * Rose City
 * Vidor
 * West Orange

Census-designated place

 * Mauriceville

Unincorporated communities

 * Forest Heights
 * Little Cypress
 * Orangefield

Ghost towns

 * Lemonville
 * Texla

Demographics
''Note: the US Census 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 census of 2000, 84,966 people, 31,642 households, and 23,794 families resided in the county. The population density was 238 /mi2. The 34,781 housing units averaged 98 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 87.98% White, 8.38% African American, 0.56% Native American, 0.78% Asian, 1.15% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. About 3.62% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 31,642 households, 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.80% were married couples living together, 12.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.80% were not families. About 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the county, the population was distributed as 27.30% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 12.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,586, and for a family was $44,152. Males had a median income of $40,185 versus $21,859 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,554. About 11.40% of families and 13.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.50% of those under age 18 and 12.40% of those age 65 or over.

Government
The Orange County Courthouse serves as the court for the region. Republican County Judge John Gothia presides over the five-member Orange County Commissioners' Court.

Orange County lies in Texas House District 21, represented beginning in 2015 by Republican Dade Phelan of Beaumont.

Economy
Primary economic activities in Orange County are the petroleum refining industry, paper milling, rice farming, and shrimping.

Orange County was formerly a center for the building of warships, and a large U.S. Navy ghost fleet (reserve fleet) still exists in Jefferson County - from which currently, many old warships are being cleaned of water pollution sources and then scrapped for their metals, thus employment for residents of Orange County in shipbreaking.

Newspapers published in the county include the twice-weekly Orange Leader and weeklies including the Bridge City-based Penny Record, County Record, and Vidor Vidorian.

Airports
Orange County Airport operates general-aviation flights.

Nearby Southeast Texas Regional Airport (Port Arthur) operates commercial flights.

Major highways

 * I-10 (TX).svg Interstate 10
 * US 90.svg U.S. Highway 90
 * Texas 12.svg State Highway 12
 * Texas 62.svg State Highway 62
 * Texas 73.svg State Highway 73
 * Texas 87.svg State Highway 87

Education
The county is served by five school districts: Bridge City ISD,  Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated ISD,  Orangefield ISD,  Vidor ISD, and West Orange-Cove Consolidated ISD. <!--

West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District
The district's Superintendent of Schools is James Colbert Jr.
 * M B North Early Learning Center/Head Start (seeking, Principal)
 * West Orange-Stark Elementary (Bennie Smith, Principal)
 * West Orange-Stark Middle (seeking, Principal)
 * West Orange-Stark High School (Hutcherson Hill, Principal)
 * West Orange-Cove Academic Alternative Center (Rodney Anderson, Director)

Bridge City ISD
The Superintendent is Jamey Harrison. It includes:
 * Hatton Elementary School (Principal:Norman Gaspard )
 * Sims Elementary School (Principal:Kent Broussard )
 * Bridge City Intermediate School (Principal:Tara Fountain )
 * Bridge City Middle School (Principal:Kevin Jones )
 * Bridge City High School (Principal:Richard Briggs ).

Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated ISD
The Superintendent is Dr. Pauline Hargrove. It includes: -->
 * Mauriceville Elementary School
 * Little Cypress Elementary School
 * Mauriceville Middle School
 * Little Cypress Intermediate School
 * Mauriceville Middle School
 * Little Cypress Junior High School
 * Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School