Lamb County, Texas
Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county
Lamb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 13,045.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is Littlefield.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> The county was created in 1876, but not organized until 1908.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is named for George A. Lamb, who died in the Battle of San Jacinto.
Lamb County was the home of the Texas House Speaker Bill W. Clayton, who served from 1975 until 1983. It is also the birthplace of country music singer Waylon Jennings.
History
Lamb County was formed in 1876 from portions of Bexar County. It was named after George A. Lamb, a soldier in the Battle of San Jacinto.
In the 1960s, the water table began to decline. From the 1980s until 2023, the population declined by about 33%. Between circa 2013 and 2023, the population declined by about 8%.<ref name=GarzaCOVID>Template:Cite magazine - Alternate link at Yahoo! News</ref>
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lamb County had an almost 1/100 death rate as of March 2023. As of that month, Lamb County, among American counties with 2,500 or more residents, had the eighth highest COVID-19 death rate.<ref name=GarzaCOVID/>
By 2023, there was water scarcity among farms, and many younger people moved to other counties for jobs.<ref name=GarzaCOVID/>
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert (0.2%) are covered by water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref>
Adjacent counties
- Castro County (north)
- Hale County (east)
- Hockley County (south)
- Bailey County (west)
- Parmer County (northwest)
- Lubbock County (southeast)
- Cochran County (southwest)
Demographics
| Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref> | Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> | Template:Partial<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref> | % 2000 | % 2010 | Template:Partial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White alone (NH) | 7,553 | 6,020 | 4,981 | 51.35% | 43.07% | 38.18% |
| Black or African American alone (NH) | 615 | 555 | 392 | 4.18% | 3.97% | 3.00% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 43 | 39 | 15 | 0.29% | 0.28% | 0.11% |
| Asian alone (NH) | 9 | 17 | 4 | 0.06% | 0.12% | 0.03% |
| Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0.02% | 0.03% | 0.04% |
| Other race alone (NH) | 3 | 16 | 24 | 0.02% | 0.11% | 0.18% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 90 | 95 | 175 | 0.61% | 0.68% | 1.34% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 6,393 | 7,231 | 7,449 | 43.46% | 51.73% | 57.10% |
| Total | 14,709 | 13,977 | 13,045 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
As of the census<ref name="GR8">Template:Cite web</ref> of 2000, 14,709 people, 5,360 households, and 3,991 families resided in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. The 6,294 housing units averaged Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 76.1% White, 4.3% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.1% Asian, less than 0.05% Pacific Islander, 16.9% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. About 43.5% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Of the 5,360 households, 35.4% had children under 18 living with them, 59.5% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were not families. About 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the county, the population was distributed as 29.6% under 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,898, and for a family was $31,833. Males had a median income of $36,434 versus $30,342 for females. The per capita income for the county was $30,169. About 18.0% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.3% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.
Transportation
Major highways
Airports
Littlefield Municipal Airport is located in Lamb County, Template:Convert west of the central business district of Littlefield, Texas.
Communities
Cities
- Amherst
- Earth
- Littlefield (county seat)
- Olton
- Sudan
Town
Census-designated place
Unincorporated community
Education
School districts serving the county include:<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref>
- Amherst Independent School District
- Anton Independent School District
- Littlefield Independent School District
- Muleshoe Independent School District
- Olton Independent School District
- Springlake-Earth Independent School District
- Sudan Independent School District
- Whiteface Consolidated Independent School District
The county is in the service area of South Plains College.<ref>Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.198. SOUTH PLAINS COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.</ref>
Media
Template:As of, there is one newspaper, Lamb County Leader-News, with three employees. An additional employee had died of COVID-19 in 2022, and the newspaper did not hire another individual.<ref name=GarzaCOVID/>
The Olton Enterprise, another newspaper, stopped publication in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2023, Alejandro de la Garza wrote, in regards to the media landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic as the pandemic had caused damage to local media outlets, "for many residents, their Facebook feeds took the place of local media."<ref name=GarzaCOVID/>
Gallery
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Littlefield claims the world's tallest windmill.
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Lamb County Library in downtown Littlefield across from the First Baptist Church
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Lamb County Leader-News in Littlefield
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Lamb County Veterans Memorial
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Littlefield Farmers Co-op grain elevator
Politics
Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFoot Template:U.S. SenHead Template:U.S. SenRow Template:U.S. SenFoot In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, about 80% of the county's residents selected Donald Trump.<ref name=GarzaCOVID/>
Healthcare
In August 22, 43% of the county's residents had completed at least one COVID-19 vaccination series.<ref name=GarzaCOVID/>
See also
References
External links
Template:Lamb County, Texas Template:Texas counties Template:US state navigation box Template:Authority control