Duval County Was Named for a Victim of the Goliad Massacre

The Texas Legislature created Duval County in 1858, carving it from parts of Nueces, Live Oak, and Starr counties. The county was named for Burr H. Duval, who died in the Goliad Massacre of 1836 during the Texas Revolution. The county was not formally organized until 1876. San Diego became and remains the county seat.

The town of San Diego itself grew from an earlier settlement called Perezville, started in the 1840s on San Diego Creek. A railroad reached the county in 1879, which helped drive a short-lived wool and sheep boom. Between 1873 and 1883, the county reportedly ran more sheep than any other county in the United States, according to the Texas State Historical Association.