Cass County, Texas
county in Texas, United States
Cass County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 28,454. The county seat is Linden. The county was named for Lewis Cass, a United States Senator representing Michigan who favored the U.S. annexation of Texas in the mid-19th century.
History
Cass County was formed in 1846 from sections of Bowie County and houses some outskirts of Texarkana. It was named for Lewis Cass, a U.S. Senator from Michigan who had favored the annexation of Texas to the United States and became the first presidential candidate to win the state.
The county was originally developed by planters for cotton plantations. By 1860, the majority of the population were enslaved African Americans. After the war, freedmen worked largely as tenant farmers and sharecroppers into the early 20th century. Black residents faced violence and discrimination in Cass County, which was the location of nine lynchings, the fifth-highest total among Texas' 254 counties.
The public source identifies “Cass County, Texas” as county in Texas, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cass, County and Texas.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Cass County, Texas”, the useful work is to connect “county in Texas, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q109150. VIAF identifies the subject as 143076328. The Library of Congress control number is n81066305. Authority coordinates are 33.070, -94.350. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1846 and 1860.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cass County, Texas”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cass County, Texas primary sources, Cass County, Texas archive and Cass research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cass County, Texas”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cass County, Texas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.