Where is Brazoria County?
Brazoria County is on the Gulf Coast prairie of Southeast Texas, at the mouth of the Brazos River. The Handbook of Texas lists Matagorda, Fort Bend, Harris and Galveston counties as its neighbors. Its county seat is Angleton. The 2020 Census counted 372,031 residents. The Census Bureau lists its land area as 1,363.33 square miles. Its waterways include the Brazos and San Bernard rivers, Oyster Creek, Bastrop Bayou and Chocolate Bayou. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway crosses the county near the coast.
How is Brazoria County governed?
Brazoria County is governed by a commissioners court, the structure every Texas county uses. The court has five members. The county judge is elected countywide and presides. Each of the four commissioners is elected from one precinct. The court adopts the county budget, sets the county tax rate and oversees county roads and bridges.
The Brazoria Central Appraisal District appraises property for the county’s taxing units. Its office is at 500 North Chenango Street in Angleton.
How did Brazoria County develop?
Stephen F. Austin chose the lower Brazos for his colony. By 1824, 89 of his Old Three Hundred families held land grants in the area. Early towns included Velasco, Columbia and Brazoria. The Congress of the Republic of Texas created the county on March 24, 1836, from the former Brazoria Municipality. It was organized on December 20, 1836, and is named for the Brazos River. Brazoria was the county seat until 1896, when Angleton replaced it.
Cotton and sugar plantations dominated the economy before the Civil War. Sulphur mining began in 1912 at Bryan Mound, Hoskins Mound and Stratton Ridge. Jetties and a diversion of the Brazos River opened the harbor at Freeport by 1929. Dow Chemical arrived at Freeport in 1939. Other chemical plants located nearby in the 1950s.
Which cities and communities are in Brazoria County?
The Handbook of Texas names Pearland, Alvin, Angleton, Manvel, Sweeny, West Columbia, Danbury and Iowa Colony among the county’s communities. The Brazosport area near the coast includes Lake Jackson, Clute, Freeport, Richwood, Oyster Creek, Jones Creek, Quintana and Surfside Beach.
What should property owners know about flooding and drainage in Brazoria County?
Local drainage districts handle drainage in Brazoria County. The Brazoria Central Appraisal District lists these districts:
- Angleton Drainage District
- Velasco Drainage District
- Brazoria County Conservation and Reclamation District No. 3 (Alvin)
- Brazoria County Drainage District No. 4 (Pearland)
- Brazoria County Drainage District No. 5 (Iowa Colony)
- Brazoria County Drainage District No. 8 (Danbury)
- West Brazoria County Drainage District No. 11
The district that serves a property depends on where it sits. The appraisal district’s drainage page links to each one.