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jimrtex
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« on: March 22, 2012, 09:52:03 PM »



In 1850, Texas had a population of 212,592; which under the cuberoot rule meant it should have 60 representatives, representing an average of 3513 persons.

The map assumes that the representatives were elected from multi-member districts electing between 3 and 5 members.  The apportionment is to the nearest 1/5 of a representative.  A district with 4.4 (42/5 representatives) would elect 4 representative to each 2-year term during a decade, and elect a 5th representative to 2 of the 5 terms.  The bonus terms would be arranged so that they did not occur in consecutive terms, nor that the three regular (no bounus) were consecutive.  

Moreover, the bonus terms would be arranged so that nearby districts would have their bonus term in different terms.  For example, the 3 northern districts along the Red River, which elect 4.4, 3.4, and 3.2 representative could have their bonus terms arranged:

Term 1: Red (Cass)
Term 2: Pink (Lamar)
Term 3: Red (Cass)
Term 4: Pink (Lamar)
Term 5: Orange (Dallas)

Over the decade, the region would have 11 representatives, with 10 elected from the same districts, and one floating among the 3 districts.  Of the 60 representatives, 55 would be from fixed districts, and 5 would float.

The use of fractional representation permits districts to be relatively stable, since population shifts can be accommodated by changing the number of representatives, rather than the district boundaries.  An error of 0.1 districts out of 3.0 is only a little over 3%.  The error may be somewhat larger than 0.1 districts, due to rounding.  The actual apportionment was done using Webster's method for 60x5 "1/5 districts".

Harrison County (Marshall) is the only single-county district, and there won't be another until 1890, as the largely rural population has fairly even density.  The magnitude of each district is displayed in its most populous county, and this will jump around a bit.

Interesting to me is the relatively high population in the northeast (1/2 of the population is from the green districts north).  Settlement was simply a continuation of westward movement from the United States, vs growth in the settlement areas before the Texas Revolution (westward from Houston).   Settlement was less dense along the coast, other than around Galveston Bay.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2012, 12:11:58 AM »



By 1860, Texas population had increased to 604,215, and the under the cube root rule, the legislature increased from 60 to 85.  The population per representative almost doubled to 7,108, so that an area which doubled in population would merely maintain its representation.

6 new districts were created to the west, with three districts splitting in half, and one in the north splitting into 3 districts.  A new district was created along the Rio Grande out of portions of the coastal bend and San Antonio based district.

4 districts in the southeast remained unchanged, as did the pink (Lamar) district along the Red River. 

Harrison County's entitled dropped from 3.4 to 2.2 and the districts were adjusted to keep them in the target range.  Rusk County became the most populous.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2012, 08:33:44 PM »



Texas population increases to 818,579, results in the legislature increasing from 85 to 94 representatives.  The Civil War pulled back some of the expansion, and only two districts were added, the light blue district between the Brazos and Colorado rivers (McLennan); and the blue district in the north formed from the pink and goldenrod districts.

Elsewhere there were shifts of Anderson, Roberson, Burleson, and Hays to keep other districts within a 3 to 5 range.

The most populous county is now Washington.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #3 on: March 30, 2012, 11:20:26 PM »



Texas population increases by 94% to almost 1.6 million, and the number of representatives increases from 94 to 117, with each representing 13,605 persons.

While many counties are delineated in West Texas, most are lightly settled.   Wheeler, the most populous panhandle county has 512 persons.  Grayson (Sherman) becomes the most populous county in Texas with 28,000 persons.

5 new districts are created on frontier, but their most populous counties are along their eastern edge: Green (Montague), Slate Blue (Collin), Purple (Tarrant), Lilac (Erath), and dark blue (San Saba).

Meanwhile. two districts along the eastern border are merged, as their population drops below 3 representatives.   13 eastern districts remain unchanged.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2012, 11:46:32 PM »
« Edited: March 31, 2012, 07:40:47 PM by jimrtex »



Texas population increases by over 40% to 2.235 million.  The number of representatives increases from 117 to 131, with each representing 17,065 persons.

Dallas becomes the most populous county in the state, and both Dallas and Grayson counties have their own districts as their population entitles them to more than 3 representatives.

239 of the modern 254 counties are defined, as well as 3 that will disappear (Encinal, now eastern Webb; and Buchel and Foley, which  are the eastern parts of modern Brewster).  Most of the western counties remain lightly populated.  Lubbock County numbers 33, for example.

The lime green South Texas district gives up the northern tier of Medina, Uvalde, and Kinney, and Webb (Laredo) becomes the most populous county.

The red (Bexar) and green (Travis) districts give up Hays and Burnet counties to remain below 5.0, and along with the northern tier, create enough population to create the orange western district, with about 1/4 of its population in El Paso.

3 other new districts are created, two in the west: goldenrod (Brown) and pink (Parker); and one in central Texas: red (McLennan) created from parts of two districts that surpassed 5.0.   13 districts in the east remain unchanged.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2012, 04:58:42 PM »



By 1900, the Texas population reached 3.048 million, an increase of 36%.  The number of representatives increases from 131 to 145, with each representative representing just over 21,000.

Bexar (San Antonio) and Harris (Houston) both reach the threshold to have their own district, joining Dallas and Grayson (Sherman-Dennison).  New districts: Lime Green (Galveston) and Tan (Caldwell) are created from the remainder of the Bexar and Harris-based districts.

In east Texas, the green Smith (Tyler) is created to absorb the excess from three districts that had passed the 5.0 maximum: blue Hunt (Greenville), goldenrod Kaufman, and tan Nacogdoches.

The west has relatively small growth, with only one new additional district, as the eastern edge of the panhandle district moves west from Cooke to Clay. The whole area of the Panhandle, South Plains, Permian Basin, Concho Valley has around 70,000 persons.

The most populous county in the Panhandle is Donley (Clarendon) with 2756 persons.
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Yelnoc
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« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2012, 04:43:44 PM »

I don't have anything to add, but keep up the good work.

Also, what sources are you using?  And do they go back before 1850?
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muon2
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« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2012, 04:53:18 PM »

I don't have anything to add, but keep up the good work.

Also, what sources are you using?  And do they go back before 1850?

TX became a state in 1845, so anything before 1850 would not be based on the US census.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #8 on: April 03, 2012, 08:09:22 PM »

I don't have anything to add, but keep up the good work.

Also, what sources are you using?  And do they go back before 1850?

http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/pop1790-1990.html

I used the print version, which matches the PDF at the above, and had entered the population into a spreadsheet some time ago, but now it comes in spreadsheet form.  What is particularly nice is that includes a lot of historical notes on county formation.

I had created outline maps of historical.  These were based on trying to get the counties reported in the census, and based on historical maps that I found on the internet.

https://www.nhgis.org/

I haven't really explored this, but I think they have historic county maps and data.

Texas joined the Union in 1845, after independence in 1836.  I don't know if there were any censuses under the Republic.  I came across a book that was published in 1966 that is titled "The 1840 census of the Republic of Texas", but also a review that says that the name is erroneous, but based on tax records - so maybe it is lists of land owners, and perhaps slaves.

http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/members/general/Apportionment_Laws_1836_1950.pdf

This has the apportionment laws for the legislature and Congress (Texas and USA).   The apportionment law for 1848 does include some population numbers, but I don't know the source.

I had originally started mapping the legislative districts, to try to figure out how they had been applied.  But they did some really odd stuff, so I decided to see what a different approach would yield.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #9 on: April 03, 2012, 10:39:15 PM »



In 1910, the Texas population reached 3.9 million, a 28% increase over the decade.   The number of representatives increased from 145 to 157, with each representing 24,819 persons.

This was a quite dramatic decade.  Explosive growth in the west resulted in the creation of 4 new districts, while stagnant growth in the rural eastern areas meant the areas lost representation.   An area that had no change in population would lose 15% of its representation.   Many districts in the 1900 map were pushing the 5.0 upper limit, and I was wondering what adjustments would be needed.  I now wonder whether they will have to be merged in 1920.

Spindletop occurred in 1901, and the growth in Jefferson County results in the first change to the sky blue southeast Texas district since 1850 (this was the last unchanged district).  The original Spindletop boom was quite shortlived due in part to overproduction; it was later discoveries that produced the long term development of Beaumont.  Nonetheless, Jefferson County jumped from 14,000 to 38,000 during the decade.  The estimate at the peak of the boom was 50,000 in Beaumont.

While Tarrant (Fort Worth) reached a population necessary for its own district, Grayson (Sherman-Dennison) dropped below the threshold (3.0) to keep its own district.  Other districts that dropped below 3.0 were the purple (Washington) and lime green (Galveston) districts.  The Galveston Storm was in 1900 (after the census) and during the decade there was no net growth, as the city just recovered, but no more.

The 1900 green (Cooke) district was split apart, with Cooke being paired with Grayson, and Montague being added to the yellow (Clay), and Wise being added to the pink (Parker) districts.  If you read aloud, remember that Montague rhymes with "vague".  It is named for Daniel M_ and not Romeo M_.

Then the yellow and pink districts were split.   With robust growth, Amarillo becomes the dominant panhandle city, as Potter County increases from 1800 to over 12,000 (Amarillo was originally a cattle shipping center).  The dark blue (Jones) was split from the western part of the pink with Wise becoming the dominant county.

The goldenrod (Comanche) district is split in half as the light blue (Taylor) district is created as Abilene begins to emerge.

The final new district is the blue (Tom Green) district.  It is created from the orange (El Paso) district.  El Paso surpasses 50,000 and is the largest city, though quite isolated.  The blue district also picks up some area from the lime green south Texas district, which may be gaining some population from unrest in Mexico.
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Yelnoc
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« Reply #10 on: April 03, 2012, 10:42:46 PM »

I don't have anything to add, but keep up the good work.

Also, what sources are you using?  And do they go back before 1850?

http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/pop1790-1990.html

I used the print version, which matches the PDF at the above, and had entered the population into a spreadsheet some time ago, but now it comes in spreadsheet form.  What is particularly nice is that includes a lot of historical notes on county formation.

I had created outline maps of historical.  These were based on trying to get the counties reported in the census, and based on historical maps that I found on the internet.

https://www.nhgis.org/

I haven't really explored this, but I think they have historic county maps and data.

Texas joined the Union in 1845, after independence in 1836.  I don't know if there were any censuses under the Republic.  I came across a book that was published in 1966 that is titled "The 1840 census of the Republic of Texas", but also a review that says that the name is erroneous, but based on tax records - so maybe it is lists of land owners, and perhaps slaves.

http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/members/general/Apportionment_Laws_1836_1950.pdf

This has the apportionment laws for the legislature and Congress (Texas and USA).   The apportionment law for 1848 does include some population numbers, but I don't know the source.

I had originally started mapping the legislative districts, to try to figure out how they had been applied.  But they did some really odd stuff, so I decided to see what a different approach would yield.
Thanks.  I'm writing a timeline involving an independent Texas; this will come in handy.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2012, 09:04:55 PM »



In 1920, the Texas population reached 4.663 million, a 19.6% increase (the lowest increase to date).  The number of representatives increased from 157 to 167, with each representing 27,924 persons.

253 of the 254 modern counties are now created.  The 254th is Willacy.  What is now Kenedy County was created as Willacy County, and then renamed when the modern Willacy County was created from parts of Cameron, Hidalgo, and a small bit of the old Willacy.

A couple of more oil booms happened with the Ranger Field in Eastland County, and the Electra and Burkburnett fields in Wichita County.  Eastland County boomed from 23,421 to 58,505 after the Ranger Field came in in 1917.   The boom was short-lived, but did result in Conrad Hilton becoming a hotelier.  He had been in banking before WWI, but after a deal to buy a bank in Cisco collapsed, he walked across the street and bought the Mobley Hotel.

Wichita County increased from 16,094 to 72,911 following the discovery of the Electra field in 1911 and Burkburnett in 1912.  Unlike further south, Wichita Falls developed into a city of some permanence.

80 of the 253 counties lost population.  This was particularly pronounced in the western part of the state, where it was being discovered like in the areas to the north through the Dakotas that there was not enough rain for crop agriculture.  An exception was the Panhandle which was still in its settlement stage.

The large cities continued to grow significantly, with Bexar (San Antonio), Harris (Houston), and Dallas (Dallas) increasing by 69%, 61%, and 55% respectively.  El Paso reached a population large enough to become the 5th single-county district.  Tarrant (Fort Worth) was the 4th.  McClellan (Waco) just missed reaching that status.

In southeastern Texas, the continued growth in Jefferson County resulted in the shedding of Liberty and Tyler counties from the sky blue to blue district (Grimes).

Development in the Coastal Bend resulted in the Pink (DeWitt) district exceeding 5.0.  With the lime green Rio Grande district at 4.8, the purple district was created,  While Webb was the most populous county, the population was mostly concentrated on the coast.  The configuration of the districts was somewhat dictated by balancing population among the three districts.

In the San Antonio-Austin area three districts slipped below 3.0 (the tan Guadalupe, the sky blue Bell (Temple), and the dark blue Hays-Hill Country).  The first two were pushed above 3.0 by transferring Hays and Burnet to them.  The remnant of the Hill Country was combined with the blue district that stretched south from Tom Green (San Angelo) and the remnant of the Orange district outside El Paso County.  This was then reconfigured with a dark blue district west and southwest of San Antonio, and a blue district stretching from the Hill Country to almost El Paso.   About half the population of this district is east of San Angelo.

Just to the north the sky blue Taylor(Abilene) district fell below 3.0, and added Brown county from the goldenrod Eastland district.  This may be temporary since the goldenrod district was inflated by the Ranger oil boom.

Further north, continued settlement in the Panhandle and the Wichita Falls area oil booms permitted creation of a 3rd district.  Potter (Amarillo) has now reached 12,000 people.

Dallas, Bexar, and Harris county have surpassed the 6.0 representatives that I permit for a single-county district, and would be split into two districts.  Most of the population is concentrated in the cities of Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston.  Dallas was 159 thousand of Dallas County's 211 thousand population; San Antonio 161 of Bexar's 202 thousand; and Houston 138 of Harris's 187 thousand.

So not only the counties would have been split, but so would the cities.  Perhaps under our hypothetical history, the cube root provisions in the constitution would not have anticipated this of occurring.   If there was proportional election, it might have permitted election of a Republican in San Antonio or maybe Houston.

In real life, the constitution was changed following the 1930 census when Bexar, Dallas, and Harris each exceeded 7/150 of the state's population.  Beyond the first seven representative (which then required around 39,000 persons) additional representatives would only be apportioned one per 100,000 persons.  This provision was unconstitutional under OMOV, but was only formally removed from the constitution a few years ago.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #12 on: April 17, 2012, 02:29:45 AM »
« Edited: April 18, 2012, 08:09:22 PM by jimrtex »



By 1930, the Texas population reaches 5.825 million, an increase of 24.9% during the decade, as the number of representatives reaches 180, who represent 32,360 persons each, an increase of 13 representatives in 1920.

The county map is completed with the reorganization of Willacy County in 1921, with most of the old county becoming Kenedy County.  The decade brought dramatic changes in population, as 9 districts dropped below the 3.0 threshold, and 7 other districts crossed the upper 5.0 threshold.  Jefferson (Beaumont and Port Arthur) and McLennan (Waco) reached sufficient population to hav their own districts, becoming the 6th and 7th counties to do so,joining Harris (Houston), Dallas (Dallas), Bexar (San Antonio), Tarrant (Fort Worth), and El Paso (El Paso).

The large urban centers continued to grow, as Harris became the most populous county in the state, a title held by Dallas since 1890.   Oil Booms spread to west Texas, and Gray (Pampa) grew from 4,663 to 22,090; Hutchinson (Borger) surged from 721 to (14,848); Howard (Big Spring) increased fron 6962 to 22,888, as Big Spring was roughly 3 times the size of Midland.   The first wells in the Permian Basin came in during this time, though development was slowed somewhat by lack of transport.   Winkler (Wink and Kermit) increased from 81 to 6764; Crane from 37 to 2221; and Upton from 253 to 5963.   There was settlement throughout the state with only 3 counties, Kenedy, Andrews, and Loving below 1000 persons.

Jefferson (Beaumont and Port Arthur) reached the threshold to become its own district.  The remaining counties of its old district were attached to the dark blue district Liberty, with some of its surplus given to the purple district Washington which had fallen below 3.0.

Three districts in the Austin area had fallen below the 3.0 threshold, the middle district was eliminatedm and distributed to the lilac Milam and sky blue Bell (Temple)

McLennan (Waco) which had been hovering below the 3.0 threshold for two decades finally inched above that level to become its own district.  Hill was transferred to the lilac district which had fallen below 3.0, with Hill becoming the largest county.

North of Dallas 3 districts fell below 3.0 and were reorganized into 2 districts, pink Grayson, and slate blue Collin.

The collapse of the Ranger Field, resulted in Eastland falling from 58,505 to 30,345, and its goldenrod district to 1.8 representative.  It took in all of the sky blue district except Taylor, which was move to the dark blue district to the west, which was then divided into the saky blue Taylor (Abilene) and dark blue Howard (Big Spring) district.

The slate blue Wilbarger district was split, with the new lilac Lubbock district created in the south.   Lubbock was now emerging as a significant population center.  Growth was more a result of large ranches being subdivided rather than oil booms.

And the panhandle was split, as both agriculture and oil booms brought growth.  The division between the yellow Potter (Amarillo) and tan Gray (Pampa) districts is the most balance division based on a north/south line.

Further south the sprawling blue district was split, with the red Tom Green (San Angelo) and blue McCulloch districts being created.  Bandera, Real, and Edward were added to the blue district to get it above the 3.0 threshold, as Tom Green had to be placed in the western district.

Develop of agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley and around Corpus Christi, as well as oil discoveries resulted in the reorganization of two districts into 3 districts.  The split between Cameron and Hidalgo was unavoidabledue to their own relatively large populations.

Four counties would have had population that required multiple districts (if we assume maximum limit of 6.0 for a single-county district).

Harris County had a population equivalent to 11.104 representatives, with Houston's population of 292,352 was equivalent to 9.034 representatives, leaving 2.070 outside Houston.  Other cities included Goose Creek 5208, Pelly 3452, Pasadena 1649, West University Place 1322, and La Porte 1280 (Goose Creek and Pelly were later part of the merger that formed Baytown in far eastern Harris County).

Dallas County had a population equivalent to 10.065 representatives, with the city of Dallas having a population of 260,475, equivalent to 8.049 representatives, leaving 2.016 outside the city.  Other cities included Highland Park 8422, University Park 4200, Garland 1584, Grand Prairie 1529, and Lancaster 1133.

Bexar County had a population equivalent to 9.040 representatives, with the San Antonio population of 231,542 or the equivalent of 7.155 representatives, leaving 1.885 outside the city.   Other cities included Alamo Heights 3874 and South San Antonio 2768.

Tarrant County had a population equivalent to 6.105 representatives, with the Fort Worth population of 163,447 equivalent to 5.051 representatives, leaving 1.050 outside the city.  Arlington had a population of 3661.

So if the 4 largest counties were divided, it would have also required placing part of the largest city in each district, so the legislature might have simply continued to maintain a single district.

Some other demographics:  Czechoslovakians were 11.5% of the foreign stock (foreign born, or at least one foreign-born parent), almost as much as the 14.5% from the British Isles (including the Irish Free State).   Czechoslovakians were 23.8% of the rural-farm foreign stock.

4 counties were more than 50% black (Marion, Harrison, Gregg, and San Jacinto), 11 more than 40%, 16 more than 30%, 33 more than 20%, 25 more than 10%, and 165 less than 10%.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #13 on: April 19, 2012, 08:10:26 PM »



Texas population reached 6.4 million in 1940, a sluggish 10.1% increase.  Only 6 members were added to the legislature which reached 186 representatives, who each represented 34,488 persons.

The relatively slow growth meant less changes than the previous decade, as an area whose population was unchanged would only lose about 7% of its representation.  The major development during the decade was the development of the East Texas Field, as Smith (Tyler), Gregg (Longview), and Rusk (Kilgore) increased from 110 thousand to 168 thousand, with increases of 30%, 268%, and 57% respectively.  Gregg which had been majority black in 1930 dropped to around 25% black by 1940.

Ector (Odessa) increased from 3958 to 15,051 (280% increase), with Ector slightly eclipsing Midland.   But both were smaller than Howard (Big Spring) and Dawson (Lamesa - pronounced with a long 'e').

Three districts crossed the 5.0 threshold and needed to be reduced.  In addition, Hidalgo (McAllen) and Travis (Austin) reached the 3.0 threshold to have their own districts.  Travis increased by 43%, either through growth of state headquarters of depression era projects, or construction of Mansfield Dam, which forms Lake Travis west of Austin.

Meanwhile 8 districts fell below 3.0, including McLennan (Waco) which lost its status as a single-county district.

In the northeast, the yellow Gregg (Longview) district exceeded 5.0 representatives, and Cass was transferred to the red district.   Meanwhile the blue Hunt district fell below 3.0 and added Wood from the green Smith (Tyler) district.

In the southeast, the blue Liberty district tipped 5.0, and lost Walker to the purple Brazos (Bryan) district.

In central Texas, the yellow Navarro (Corsicana) district, orange Limestone, and red McLennan district fell below 3.0.  Hill (from the lilac district) was placed with McLennan (to match the 1890-1920 configuration) and Ellis (Waxahachie) was moved to the lilac district and Navarro was added to the orange district.  The 4-county orange district had been unchanged since 1870.   Navarro is pronounced Nuhvair, and it will help if you can twang the second syllable.

The blue McCulloch district added Burnet from the light blue Bell (Temple) district to get above 2.0.  As Travis (Austin) became its own district, it lost Williamson to the lilac (Williamson) district, which in turn lost Gonzales to the tan Gonzales district to push it above 3.0.

In south Texas, the purple Nueces (Corpus Christi) topped 5.0, and Hidalgo (McAllen) in lime green became its own district.  The areas lost from these districts were formed into a new yellow Webb (Laredo) district.

In the eastern Panhandle, and area to the south of the Red River fell far below 3.0 and were merged into a single tan Gray (Pampa) district, with Floyd transferred to the lilac Lubbock district to get the merged district below 5.0.

The population in Harris County outside Houston was large enough to form its own district, within the city equivalent to 11.149 representative, and outside equivalent to 4.188.  The legislature which had hesitated to form smaller district, created a donut district, surrounding 3 Houston districts.   The largest towns outside Houston were West University Place 9221; Goose Creek 6979, Pelly 3712, Pasadena 3436, and La Porte 3072, with Galena Park, Humble, Southside Place, and Bellaire exceeding 1000.

Dallas County was also divided, as the area outside the city of Dallas reached a population equivalent to 3.01 representatives, and within the city equivalent to 8.546 (two districts).  University Park had a population of 14,458 and Highland Park 10,288, as Garland, Grand Prairie, Cockrell Hill, Lancaster, Irving, and Mesquite had more than 1000.

Bexar County remained a single district, as the area outside San Antonio had a population equivalent to 2.445 representatives with 5700 in Alamo Heights and 1822 in Olmos Park.

Tarrant also remained a single district, as the area outside Fort Worth was only 1.388 of a district, including Arlington 4240 and Grapevine 1043.
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« Reply #14 on: April 22, 2012, 04:32:07 AM »



The Texas population reaches 7.7 million in 1950, a 20% increase during the decade.   The number of representatives is 198, an increase of 12, with each representing 38,945 persons.

The decade has massive changes due to industrialization, and development of military bases for WWII (Fort Hood, AFB throughout west Texas, naval aviation around Corpus Christi, shipbuilding,etc., and large population drops (30%) in rural counties.   Odessa finally begins to grow, with Ector County reaching 42,000 (I haven't been able to pinpoint when the Bush's moved to Midland, which was even smaller).

11 districts fell below the 3.0 threshold, while two, in west Texas, exceeded 5.0.  In addition Nueces (Corpus Christi), McLennan (Waco), and Cameron (Brownsville) reached the 3.0 level needed for their own district, becoming the 9th, 10th, and 11th single county districts.

In south Texas, the creation of single-county districts in Nueces and Cameron, meant that all the rest of the area was gathered in the yellow Webb (Laredo) district.   San Patricio was detached from the Nueces district, and became the largest county in the pink district, which in turn shifted Karnes to the tan Guadalupe district to keep that district above 3.0.

The lavender Williamson district added Burleson, and the slate blue Wharton district added Jackson to keep above the 3.0 minimum.  The lime green Cherokee district added Polk and San Jacinto to keep above 3.0, the first change to this district since 1870.

As McLennan became its own district, Hill was added to keep the neighboring orange Navarro district above 3.0.

Two districts were merged to form the single goldenrod Hunt (Greenville) district.  In 1940, they collectively had 6.8 representatives, but lost 20% of their population during the decade and ended with 4.8 representatives.

Another two districts wrapping around the north and west of Dallas-Fort Worth were merged to form a single slate blue Collin district, while shedding the 4 western counties of Young, Stephens, Shackleford, and Throckmorton which were added to keep the goldenrod Brown (Brownwood) district above 3.0, and to create a little more population balance.

The lilac Lubbock district gave up Crosby and Floyd counties to the tan Gray (Pampa) district to stay below 5.0.   Lubbock County roughly doubled during the decade from 52,000 to 101,000.

The final change was to move Tom Green (San Angelo), Coke, Sterling, Irion, Glasscock, and Reagan from the red Ector (Odessa) district to the blue Tom Green district.   The growth of Odessa and Midland had pushed the red district above 5.0, while the blue district had dropped below 3.0.

The largest counties remained dominated by the larger city, but there are least some significant other cities.   Houston had a population equivalent to 15.308, while the rest of Harris County city was equivalent to 5.406.  Other cities included Baytown 23K, Pasadena 22K, West University Place 17K, Bellaire 10K, Galena Park 7K, Jacinto City 7K, La Porte 6K.

In Dallas County, the city of Dallas represented 11.156 representatives, while the rest of the county was equivalent to 4.630, with University Park 24K, Grand Prairie 15K, Highland Park 11K, and Garland 11K.  The female:mail ratio among non-whites for Highland Park was 2.00.

In Bexar County, San Antonio represented 10.488 representative, and only 2.362 outside the city.  Alamo Heights with 8K was the only other city above 5K (San Antonio with 408K was 51 times the size of Alamo Heights).

In Tarrant County, Fort Worth had the equivalent of 7.158 representatives, with 2.118 representatives in the rest of the county.  Other cities included White Settlement 11K, Arlington 8K, River Oaks 7K, and Haltom City 6K.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #15 on: April 24, 2012, 12:33:16 AM »
« Edited: April 25, 2012, 12:37:13 AM by jimrtex »



Harris County is apportioned 20.6 representatives (of 198).  In our alternative history, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that multiple districts may be created in a single county.   The constitution says that a county with a population equivalent to 3.0 representatives or more must be apportioned separately, while permitting multi-county districts in the range of 3.0 to 5.0 representatives.   Because the constitution requires apportionment by county, the districts within Harris County are actually a sub-apportionment of the county representation.

When counties such as Harris, Dallas, and Bexar began to exceed 5.0 representatives, the legislature had simply maintained the single county district, but this became unworkable as voters were faced with ballots with dozens of candidates.

In 1940, Harris County had sufficient population outside the city of Houston to form its own district, and this was continued in 1950, with Harris County apportioned 5.4 representatives.

Houston's population was equivalent to 15.2 representatives and was divided into 4 districts.



The 4 districts of Houston Northwest (4.2 representatives), Houston Northeast (3.2), Houston Southwest (3.0), and Houston Southeast (4.8 ), are divided by Buffalo Bayou, and generally Hardy Street north of the bayou, and Main Street to the south, with a bit of jog to get enough population for Houston Southwest.  Main Street is perpendicular to the instantaneous direction of the bayou where Houston was founded in 1836 by the Allen brothers, and defines the direction of the downtown street grid plus streets to the south and east.  Buffalo Bayou splits the population between north and south almost evenly, with 48% north of the Bayou.

Houston's aggressive annexation policy is already evident, as it has enveloped West University Place, Southside Place, and Bellaire; wrapped an arm around Galena Park and Jacincto city, and stretched across to block South Houston and Pasadena from expanding south.   Houston city limits in 1950 roughly correspond to the I-610 Loop.



Dallas County is apportioned 15.8 representatives.   The area outside the city of Dallas has enough population for 4.6 representatives and forms the district of Dallas County.

The city of Dallas has the population for 11.2 representatives, and was divided into 3 districts.  Dallas South (3.8 representatives) is the area south of the Trinity River (Oak Cliff).  My original split of the rest of the city had far too few persons in Dallas North, so I just kept adding tracts until the district had the minimum of 3.0 representatives.  Dallas East elects the remaining 4.4 representatives.



Tarrant County is apportioned 9.2 representatives.   The area outside the city of Fort Worth  has enough population for about 2.1 representatives, which is not enough for its own district, so it was placed in a district with the northern part of the Fort Worth.

The city of Fort Worth has the population for 7.1 representatives, and was divided into 1-1/2  districts.  Fort Worth South (4.4 representatives) is generally south of the Trinity River and includes the downtown and areas to the south and east.  The remainder of the city to the north and west with around 2.7 representatives plus the part of Tarrant County outside the city of Fort Worth form the district of Fort Worth North & Tarrant County (4.8 representatives).

There is no tract data for San Antonio and Bexar County for the 1950 Census.
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jimrtex
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« Reply #16 on: April 28, 2012, 01:14:54 AM »



The Texas population reaches almost 9.6 million, a 24% increase in 1960.   There are 212 representatives, an increase of 14; each representing 45,187 persons, up from 38,945, 10 years earlier.

Growth continues in the cities, and in west Texas due to oil development and also development of irrigation from the Ogallala aquifer, while rural areas elsewhere continue to decline in population.

Suburban growth has not reached outside the central counties.  Collin County, for example, lost about 1% of its population of 41,000. while Dallas County increased by 55% and 350,000 persons.

11 districts fell below the 3.0 threshold and needed to be adjusted, while 4 districts, 3 in west Texas exceeded 5.0.  Galveston and Lubbock counties reached the threshold of 3.0, to have their own districts.   The growth in Galveston was on the mainland around Texas City and La Marque, rather around Clear Lake.  One of the reasons that NASA chose the Clear Lake area was because Exxon owned a lot of land which had been used for oil production.  It created Friendswood Development to build houses.   The other reason was LBJ was Vice President.

Galveston reached 3.2 and was formed into its own district.  The remainder of the district was given to the slate Brazoria district (which had been below 3.0), and in turn transferred Colorado and Lavaca to the lilac Williamson district to keep it above 3.0.

The pink Victoria district gave up DeWitt to the tan Guadalupe district to keep it above 3.0.  Similarly, the blue Orange district shifted Montgomery to the purple Brazos (Bryan-College Station) district to keep the latter above 3.0.

In east Texas, two districts were merged to create the tan Angelina district, giving up Panola to keep the green Smith district above 3.0.   Collectively, the are went from 9.4 representatives in 3 districts to 7.6 in 2.

In central Texas, three districts were merged into two, as the lime green Ellis (Waxahachie) district took Ellis and Johnson, while the goldenrod Brown (Brownwood) district added Erath, Hamilton, Hood, Somervell, and Bosque county.  From 10.6 representatives in 3 districts, the area was reduced to 8.2 in two.

The final change was the shift of Cooke from the slate Denton district to the pink Grayson (Sherman Dennison) district.   Grayson which at one time (1890) was the only county with more than 3.0 representatives and its own district, has now declined to 1.6 representatives and about 1/2 population of a 4-county district.

In west Texas the Lubbock and Amarillo based districts have surpassed 5.0, and Lubbock has reached the 3.0 threshold requiring its own district.  Lubbock grew 55% during the decade.

The remnant of the 1950s Lubbock district was far below 3.0.  So it took Parmer, Castro, and Swisher from the yellow district to the north.  But this still left the new district short of 3.0, and the yellow district to the north was still over 6.0.   Going further north would split Amarillo which was just starting to spill over into Randall.   The relative ratio of Potter:Randall dropped from 5.32 to 3.41 (by 2010 they will be almost equal).  So two counties to the east of Lubbock, Floyd and Crosby were added to get the new orange Hale (Plainview) district above 3.0.   

Meanwhile, Hansford, Hutchinson, Carson, Armstrong, and Briscoe were shifted from the yellow Potter (Amarillo) district to the tan district, in which Hutchinson (Borger) was now the most populous, to push the yellow district below 5.0.

The growth of Ector (Odessa) and Midland (Midland), by 116% and 162%, respectively forced the red Ector-Midland district above 5.0.   I assumed the legislature would try to make minimal changesm not involving surrounding districts.  Shifting Midland to the blue Tom Green district would have forced that district above 5.0, and a 3-way split was not feasible.  So the the Trans-Pecos area of Terrell, Pecos, Reeves, Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, Culberson, and Hudspeth was added to blue Tom Green (San Angelo) district, and Glasscock shifted to the red Ector (Odessa) district to the get the blue district just under 5.0.

Harris County had the equivalent of 27.5 representatives, with 20.8 in Houston, and 6.7 in the remainder of the county.   Houston would likely have 5 districts, with the rest of the county split into 2 districts.  Houston was largely successful in preventing development of suburban cities, as it reach 938K, vs Pasadena 58K, Baytown 28K, Bellaire 20K, West University Place 14K, Galena Park 11K, Jacinto City 10K, and South Houston 8K, with some containment of all but Baytown by Houston annexations.

Dallas County had the equivalent of 21.0 representatives with 15.0 inside the city of Dallas, and 6.0 outside.  It might have continued with 3 Dallas districts and 1 county district, rather than trying to reorganize the districts.  Suburbs in Dallas County burgeoned as they developed from small farming towns and Dallas was not aggressive enough in annexation.  Dallas had 680, vs Irving 46K, Garland 39K, Grand Prairie 30K (29K in Dallas County, 1K in Tarrant), Mesquite 28K, University Park 23K, Richardson 17K, Farmers Branch 13K, Highland Park 10K, Lancaster 8K, Balch Springs 7K.

Bexar County had the equivalent of 15.2 representatives, with 13.0 in San Antonio and 2.2 outside.  With not enough population outside the city for a district, the entire county would have been divided into 3 or 4 districts, all including most of their population in the city.  San Antonio had 588K, with only Alamo Heights 8K, and Terrell Hills exceeding 6K.

Tarrant County had the equivalent of 11.9 representatives, with 7.9 in Fort Worth and 4.0 in the rest of the county.  The county would get its own district, with Fort Worth split between two districts,  Fort Worth reached 356K, while Arlington had 45K, Haltom City 23K, White Settlement 12K, Hurst 10K, North Richland Hills 9K, River Oaks 8K, and Richland Hills 7K.

El Paso County exceeded 6.0 representatives with 7.0 representatives, with 6.1 inside the city of El Paso and just 0.9 outside.   It is possible that the county might have remained a single district.
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