BREWSTER COUNTY

Brewster County, the largest county in Texas, is located in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas, and is the site of Big Bend National Park, the largest park in the state. Brewster County is bordered by Presidio County to the west, Jeff Davis County to the northwest, Pecos County and Terrell County to the east, and the Rio Grande to the south. Alpine, the county seat and largest town, is 220 miles southeast of El Paso in northwestern Brewster County. The county's center lies about fifty miles southeast of Alpine at approximately 2951' north latitude and 10301' west longitude. U.S. Highway 90 and the Southern Pacific Railroad cross the northern part of the county; U. S. Highway 385 and State Highway 118 enter Brewster County from the northeast and northwest, respectively, and run south to Big Bend National Park; and the South Orient Railroad crosses the northwestern part of the county.

Brewster County comprises 6,169 square miles of largely rough and mountainous terrain, with elevations ranging from 1,700 to 7,825 feet above sea level; the latter elevation, the tenth highest in the state, is at Emory Peak.  Most of Brewster County drains into the Rio Grande, although the northern part drains into the Pecos River. Soils are generally shallow and stony, with some loamy to sandy soils and clayey subsoils. Vegetation at lower elevations in the county is drought resistant; sparse grasses, desert shrubs such as ocotillo, lechuguilla, sotol, acacias, tarbrush, and creosote bush, some mesquite, and cactus predominate. At intermediate elevations vast grasslands occur in mountain basins; white oak, juniper, and pion woodlands dominate the slopes. Douglas fir, aspen, Arizona cypress, maple, Arizona pine, oaks, and madrone are found at the higher elevations. The fauna in Brewster County includes the pronghorn antelope, mule deer, white-tail deer, bobcat, mountain lion, desert bighorn sheep, black bear, coyote, raccoon, badger, prairie dog, pack rat, kangaroo rat, skunk, ringtail cat, porcupine, jackrabbit, cottontail, golden eagle, roadrunner, quail, dove, rock wren, white-winged dove, mourning dove, Canyon Wren, painted bunting, zone-tailed black hawk, and Colima warbler. Mineral resources include mercury, silver, lead, fluorspar, nonceramic clay, and lignite coal. Of these, the most important to the historical development of Brewster County was mercury; for most of the first half of the twentieth century the Terlingua Mining District in southern Brewster County was among the nation's leading producers (see mercury mining). The climate is subtropical-arid. The average minimum temperature in January is 34 F, and the average maximum temperature in July is 95. The growing season averages 239 days a year, and the average annual precipitation is twelve inches. Less than 1 percent of the land in the county is considered prime farmland.