Tarrant County, Texas is a county with a deep and captivating history. Founded on December 20, 1849, the county was named after Edward H. Tarrant, who had a major role in expelling the Native Americans from the area. In August 1850, the county was officially organized and the first elections were held.
During the 1850s, the population of Tarrant County skyrocketed. The Tarrant County Archives is devoted to collecting, protecting and providing access to records of the county's past. Located in the Tarrant County Plaza building, the archives contain thousands of documents. As one of 254 counties in Texas that were originally established by the State to serve as decentralized administrative divisions that provided state services and collected state taxes, Tarrant County has a long and honorable history.
The Tarrant County Courthouse, completed in 1895, is made of pink granite from central Texas and took more than two years to build. It stands on a cliff where a Second U. S. company established a military post in 1849. The courthouse is a symbol of the county's long history and its commitment to justice. Tarrant County consists of 898 square miles of gently sloping terrain with elevations ranging from 420 feet in the southeast to 960 feet in the northwest.
The first county seat election was held in 1851 and the place that received the most votes, a few miles to the northeast, became the first seat of Tarrant County, designated Birdville, as required by the law that created the county. Tarrant County is not responsible for the content nor does it endorse any site that has a link from the Tarrant County website. However, it is proud of its long history and its dedication to preserving its past for future generations.
