In the early 1900's, Taft was a cattle station and watering pen for the Coleman-Fulton
Pasture Company. In 1900 Charles P. Taft, half-brother to President William Howard
Taft, had acquired so much of the company's stock that the area became known as
the Taft Ranch. Eventually Taft grew into a farming community, and exists today
as a small town 22 miles north of Corpus Christi.
San Patricio County
Population: 67,205 (up 14.4 percent from 1990)
County seat: Sinton (population 6,856)
Location: North of Nueces county, west of Aransas County, south of Refugio
and Bee counties, southeast of Live Oak County and east of Jim Wells County.
Size: 707 square miles.
Climate: Mean July maximum temperature - 94; mean January minimum temperature
- 43; annual precipitation - 35 inches.
History: The Karankawa tribe lived here, followed by Mexican sheep herders.
Irish settlers moved in around 1830 and named the area after the Spanish term
for St. Patrick. The county was created in 1836.
Economy: Oil and petrochemicals, manufacturing, tourism and military
(Naval Air Station Ingleside). Agriculture includes beef, fisheries, cotton, grain,
corn and sorghum, for which it is a leading county in Texas.
Statistics: Crimes per 1,000 residents (1998) - 30.068; Pregnancies
per 1,000 women ages 15-44 (1997) - 90.8; Voter turnout (1998) - 26.00 percent;
Per capita income (1998) - $15,729.
Major tourist attractions:
