Deaf Smith County<!--pronunciation info is in #History section--> is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,583. The county seat is Hereford, which is known as the "Beef Capital of the World". The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1890. The Hereford, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Deaf Smith County.
History
In 1876, the state legislature defined and named the county, but it was not organized until 1890, with the town of La Plata as the original county seat. The county was named for Erastus "Deaf" Smith (1787–1837), a partially deaf scout and soldier who served in the Texas Revolution, and was the first to reach the Alamo after its fall in 1836. The pronunciation of "Deaf", as used by Smith himself, is ; however, most residents pronounce it .
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Image:Deaf Smith in museum in Hereford IMG 4856.JPG|Deaf Smith as he appears at the Deaf Smith County Museum
Image:Deaf Smith County Museum IMG 4854.JPG|The Deaf Smith County Historical Museum in Hereford
Image:Deaf Smith County Library, Hereford, TX IMG 4892.JPG|The Deaf Smith County Library formerly housed the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame on the ground floor. The museum is now located in a new building in the Historic District of Fort Worth.
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Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.1%) are covered by water.
Major highways
Adjacent counties
- Oldham County (north)
- Potter County (northeast)
- Randall County (east)
- Castro County (southeast)
- Parmer County (south)
- Curry County, New Mexico (southwest/Mountain Time Zone)
- Quay County, New Mexico (west/Mountain Time Zone)