Kinney County

Henry Lawrence Kinney arrived in Texas in 1838. He was an adventurer, land speculator and a wheeler-dealer. Kinney is considered the founder of Corpus Christi. In 1850 the Texas State Legislature authorized the creation of Kinney County even though it was sparsely populated. Before 1850 the land had been part of Bexar County. Kinney County was named after Henry Laurence Kinney.

In 1873 Kinney County was formally organized. New counties were required to have 100 FREE male inhabitants in a 900 square mile area. Two years later the 1st Kinney County government was set up. In 1876 Brackettville was designated the county seat. The county seat was to be within 5 miles of the center of the county so all residents would be able to travel to the county seat to vote and return home the same day.