Starr County

Before it was cattle country, Starr was sheep country. The 1860 count found 19,142 sheep and 4,639 cattle on 71 ranches, most of them on Spanish and Mexican land grants. By 1910 cattle ranching peaked at 85,425 head and sheep had fallen to 8,942. Oil came later; more than 216 million barrels were produced between 1929 and 1970. The map shrank as the herds grew. Hidalgo County took its eastern land in 1852, Zapata County took part of the west by 1860, and Brooks County was cut from the north in 1911.

What the plaque says

Starr County Formed from Nueces County; created February 10, 1848; organized August 7, 1848. Named for Dr. James Harper Starr 1809-1890; pioneer Texas surgeon and Indian fighter, located at Nacogdoches in 1837; Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic of Texas 1839-1840; Assistant Postmaster General of the Confederacy. Rio Grande City, the county seat.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Roma Historic District — 12 mi
  A bluff-top Rio Grande steamboat port, now a National Historic Landmark District where Heinrich Portscheller's molded brick and walled stone compounds face Ciudad Miguel Alemán across the river.
• Falcon State Park — 24 mi
  A 576-acre state park at the foot of the Falcon International Reservoir, made by the dam Presidents Eisenhower and Ruiz Cortines dedicated in 1953, known for bass fishing, camping and brush-country birds.
• Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park — 30 mi
  A 587-acre stand of Rio Grande woodland near Mission, once part of a Spanish porción, given to the state by the Bentsen family in 1944 and now headquarters of the World Birding Center.

More markers nearby

• Rio Grande City, C.S.A. — steps away
• Old Rancho Davis — steps away
• Site of Cortina Battle — steps away
• The Rev. Gustav Gollbach, O.M.I. — steps away