Jefferson County, Texas
| Jefferson County, Texas | ||
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The Jefferson County Courthouse in Beaumont. The Art Deco-style building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 17, 1982. The top five floors once served as the County Jail.
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 Location in the U.S. state of Texas |
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 Texas's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1837 | |
| Seat | Beaumont | |
| Largest city | Beaumont | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 1,113 sq mi (2,883 km2) | |
| • Land | 876 sq mi (2,269 km2) | |
| • Water | 236 sq mi (611 km2), 21% | |
| Population (est.) | ||
| • (2015) | 254,308 | |
| Congressional district | 14th | |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 | |
| Website | www |
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Jefferson County is a county located in the Coastal Plain or Gulf Prairie region of Southeast Texas in the United States. The Neches River forms its northeast boundary. As of the 2010 census, the population was 252,273. The 2015 United States Census estimate is 254,308. The county seat of Jefferson County is Beaumont.
The county was established in 1835 as a municipality of Mexico, which had gained independence from Spain. Because the area was lightly settled, the Mexican government allowed European Americans from the United States to settle here if they pledged loyalty to Mexico. This was organized as a county in 1837 after Texas achieved independence as a republic. It was named by European-American settlers for U.S. president Thomas Jefferson. Texas later became part of the US.
Jefferson County is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area and has the highest population of the four-county MSA. It has three state correctional facilities and a federal high-security prison in unincorporated areas of the county. Together they have a maximum capacity for nearly 9,000 prisoners.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,113 square miles (2,880 km2), of which 876 square miles (2,270 km2) is land and 236 square miles (610 km2) (21%) is water.
Jefferson County is located on the plains of the Texas Gulf Coast in the southeastern part of the state. The county is bounded on the north by Pine Island Bayou, on the northeast by the Neches River, and on the east by Sabine Lake and the mouth of the Sabine River, a natural outlet called Sabine Pass. The southern part of the county is largely marshland, much of which is contained within Sea Rim State Park, reaching to the storm-battered beach at the Gulf of Mexico.
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