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Cottle County
Cottle County
County
	Cottle County Courthouse in Paducah
	Location within the U.S. state of Texas
	Texas's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 34°05′N 100°16′W / 34.08°N 100.27°W
Country	United States
State	Texas
Founded	1892
Named for	George Washington Cottle
Seat	Paducah
Largest town	Paducah
Area
• Total	902 sq mi (2,340 km2)
• Land	901 sq mi (2,330 km2)
• Water	1.1 sq mi (3 km2) 0.1%
Population (2020)
• Total	1,380
• Density	1.5/sq mi (0.59/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	13th
Website	www.co.cottle.tx.us

Cottle County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,380.^[1]^[2] Its county seat is Paducah.^[3] The county was founded in 1876 and later organized in 1892.^[4] It is named for George Washington Cottle,^[5] who died defending the Alamo. Cottle County was formerly one of 46 prohibition, or entirely dry counties in the state of Texas. It now allows beer and wine sales.

The Matador Ranch, based in neighboring Motley County, once reached into Cottle County.^[6]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 902 sq mi (2,340 km²), of which 901 sq mi (2,330 km²) are land and 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²) (0.1%) is covered by water.^[7]

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Childress County (north)
Hardeman County (northeast)
Foard County (east)
King County (south)
Dickens County (southwest)
Motley County (west)
Hall County (northwest)

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1880	24	—
1890	240	900.0%
1900	1,002	317.5%
1910	4,396	338.7%
1920	6,901	57.0%
1930	9,395	36.1%
1940	7,079	−24.7%
1950	6,099	−13.8%
1960	4,207	−31.0%
1970	3,204	−23.8%
1980	2,947	−8.0%
1990	2,247	−23.8%
2000	1,904	−15.3%
2010	1,505	−21.0%
2020	1,380	−8.3%
U.S. Decennial Census^[8] 1850–2010^[9] 2010^[10] 2020^[11]

**Cottle County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition**
*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 may be of any race.*
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000^[12]	Pop 2010^[10]	Pop 2020^[11]	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	1,348	1,043	902	70.80%	69.30%	65.36%
Black or African American alone (NH)	176	129	96	9.24%	8.57%	6.96%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	0	4	2	0.00%	0.27%	0.14%
Asian alone (NH)	0	0	0	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	0	1	1	0.00%	0.07%	0.07%
Other race alone (NH)	0	3	0	0.00%	0.20%	0.00%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	20	9	52	1.05%	0.60%	3.77%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	360	316	327	18.91%	21.00%	23.70%
Total	1,904	1,505	1,380	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the census^[13] of 2000, 1,904 people, 820 households, and 550 families resided in the county. The population density was 2 people/sq mi (0.77 people/km²). The 1,088 housing units averaged 1 per square mile (0.39/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 81.46% White, 9.87% African American, 7.20% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. About 18.91% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 820 households, 28.00% had children under 18 living with them, 53.90% were married couples living together, 10.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.90% were not families. Around 32.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.90% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.28, and the average family size was 2.84.

In the county, the age distribution was 23.90% under 18, 5.70% from 18 to 24, 21.50% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 25.60% who were 65 or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $25,446, and for a family was $33,036. Males had a median income of $24,375 versus $16,667 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,212. About 13.70% of families and 18.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.40% of those under age 18 and 16.00% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Until 2000, Cottle County went consistently Democratic in presidential elections, except for the 1928 election, when sentiment against Al Smith’s devout Catholic faith and opposition to Prohibition allowed Herbert Hoover to carry the county with 51% of the vote. After John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Hubert Humphrey easily carried the county in 1960, 1964, and 1968, respectively,^[14]^[15]^[16] Cottle County again voted for the Democratic candidate in the 1972 election, as it was the only county in Texas north of Maverick County (Eagle Pass) to have been won by George McGovern, albeit by a margin of only seven votes.^[17] After Jimmy Carter carried it in 1976 and 1980,^[18]^[19] Walter Mondale won a majority of the county's votes in 1984,^[20] Michael Dukakis won the county in 1988^[21] and Bill Clinton carried it in 1992 and 1996.^[22]^[23]

Like the rest of the Bible Belt, Cottle has trended powerfully Republican^[24] and in the last six elections, the Republican nominee has won more than two-thirds of the vote. In 2012, Mitt Romney received 555 votes to Barack Obama’s 180,^[25] and in 2016, Hillary Clinton won fewer than 100 votes in the county, less than a tenth as many as Jimmy Carter 40 years before.

United States presidential election results for Cottle County, Texas^[26]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	540	81.57%	113	17.07%	9	1.36%
2016	506	82.68%	92	15.03%	14	2.29%
2012	555	74.90%	180	24.29%	6	0.81%
2008	509	72.20%	187	26.52%	9	1.28%
2004	549	71.48%	214	27.86%	5	0.65%
2000	502	66.31%	241	31.84%	14	1.85%
1996	331	40.46%	404	49.39%	83	10.15%
1992	245	23.90%	542	52.88%	238	23.22%
1988	379	35.00%	690	63.71%	14	1.29%
1984	507	44.09%	623	54.17%	20	1.74%
1980	511	40.36%	732	57.82%	23	1.82%
1976	311	22.85%	1,047	76.93%	3	0.22%
1972	564	49.69%	571	50.31%	0	0.00%
1968	268	21.00%	742	58.15%	266	20.85%
1964	230	17.00%	1,122	82.93%	1	0.07%
1960	370	27.19%	986	72.45%	5	0.37%
1956	329	22.40%	1,138	77.47%	2	0.14%
1952	494	26.53%	1,368	73.47%	0	0.00%
1948	102	7.02%	1,318	90.71%	33	2.27%
1944	130	4.68%	2,551	91.89%	95	3.42%
1940	237	13.60%	1,506	86.40%	0	0.00%
1936	86	6.33%	1,265	93.08%	8	0.59%
1932	38	3.08%	1,196	96.92%	0	0.00%
1928	473	51.19%	451	48.81%	0	0.00%
1924	59	8.97%	580	88.15%	19	2.89%
1920	121	18.22%	472	71.08%	71	10.69%
1916	12	2.24%	455	85.05%	68	12.71%
1912	8	2.64%	277	91.42%	18	5.94%