The county is named after the Medina River, which was named in 1689 after the Spanish cartographer Pedro de Medina by the Spanish explorer Alonso de Leon, the first European to encounter the river. Because Pedro de Medina derived his surname from the Andalusian city ofMedina-Sidonia, the name Medina comes from the Arabic for city. The Texas Legislature formed Medina county on February 12, 1848 and enlarged it on February 1, 1850 using land taken from Bexar County. Castroville was the county seat, and the county erected the first permanent courthouse there in 1854. The county seat moved to Hondo in 1892, and a new courthouse was completed there in 1893.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 39,304 people, 12,880 households, and 10,136 families residing in the county. The population density was 30 people per square mile. There were 14,826 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 79.38% White, 2.20% Black or African American, 0.68% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 14.48% from other races, and 2.88% from two or more races. 45.47% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 12,880 households out of which 39.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.20% were married couplesliving together, 11.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.30% were non-families. 18.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.30. In the county, the population was spread out with 29.00% under the age of 18, 8.40% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median agewas 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,063, and the median income for a family was $40,288. Males had a median income of $27,045 versus $21,734 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,210. About 12.00% of families and 15.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.80% of those under age 18 and 15.60% of those age 65 or over.
