County · code 48227
Howard CountyTexas
Howard County is a county in Texas with its seat in Big Spring, founded in 1876.
- Founded1876
- County seatBig Spring
- Named forVolney Howard
- Land area901 sq mi + 3.4 sq mi water
- Population34,860 2020 Census
- Parcels mapped20,593 checked 15 October 2026
Where it is
Howard on the map of Texas
Texas has 254 counties and county equivalents, each with its own records office. Shapes with a page are links.
History
Formed in 1876 from Tom Green County and Shackelford County
An old deed may name a county that no longer exists, or a boundary that has since moved.
Howard County was created from Tom Green and Shackelford counties on November 19, 1876, but was not initially fully organized and was attached to Shackelford County for judicial and other purposes. The county was named after Volney Howard. Howard County was fully organized on June 15, 1882, after being detached from Mitchell County.
- 1876Howard County created Howard created from Tom Green and Young Territory; Howard not fully organized, attached to Shackelford "for judicial, surveying and all other purposes." Act passed 21 August 1876; took effect 19 November 1876. · Texas Laws 1876, 15th leg., ch. 144/pp. 239, 242
- 1881Changed Howard detached from Shackelford, attached to Mitchell "for judicial purposes." · Texas Laws 1881, 17th leg., reg. sess., ch. 74, sec. 11/p. 79
- 1882
- 1883Changed Andrews, Borden, Dawson, Gaines, and Martin detached from Mitchell, all attached to Howard "for judicial purposes." Lynn, Terry and Yoakum detached from Throckmorton, all attached to Howard "for judicial purposes." · Texas Laws 1883, 18th leg., reg. sess., ch. 41, sec. 1/p. 29
- 1884
Show all 12 changes
- 1876Howard County created Howard created from Tom Green and Young Territory; Howard not fully organized, attached to Shackelford "for judicial, surveying and all other purposes." Act passed 21 August 1876; took effect 19 November 1876. · Texas Laws 1876, 15th leg., ch. 144/pp. 239, 242
- 1881Changed Howard detached from Shackelford, attached to Mitchell "for judicial purposes." · Texas Laws 1881, 17th leg., reg. sess., ch. 74, sec. 11/p. 79
- 1882
- 1883Changed Andrews, Borden, Dawson, Gaines, and Martin detached from Mitchell, all attached to Howard "for judicial purposes." Lynn, Terry and Yoakum detached from Throckmorton, all attached to Howard "for judicial purposes." · Texas Laws 1883, 18th leg., reg. sess., ch. 41, sec. 1/p. 29
- 1884
- c. 1884
- 1885
- 1889
- 1889
- 1891
- 1893
- 1905Changed Dawson fully organized, detached from Howard. · "Dawson County," New Handbook of Texas, 2:541
Land and parcels
What the maps cover in Howard
Who publishes each layer, how good it is, and when we last checked.
-
Parcels Good enough
Lot lines and tax-map numbers for 20,593 parcels from Howard County. Drawn for tax purposes: usually within a few feet of a survey, but not a survey.
edited 14 October 2026 · checked 15 October 2026 -
Address points Official
One point per address, 15,149 in all from Texas Geographic Information Office (TxGIO, formerly TNRIS), a division of the Texas Water Development Board; StratMap program.
checked 14 October 2026 -
Buildings Reference
Roof outlines traced from aerial imagery from FEMA Response Geospatial Office with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Good for seeing what is on a lot; not accurate enough to set a fence from.
checked 18 October 2026
- Official
- from the office that keeps the record
- Good enough
- a reliable statewide or national copy
- Fallback
- a guide only; check the official record
- Missing
- nothing public found yet
People and land
Howard by the Census
Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census; US Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer Files. Not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Rules and offices
Who to ask before you build, dig or sell
Official county pages only. We link to them; we do not copy them, because they change.
Inside a city or town, permits usually come from that city rather than the county.
Records
- Clerk of court: deeds and plats
County Clerk
Zoning and code
- Planning and zoning
Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)
County government
- County government
The official website of Howard County.
See your own lot on these maps
Open Howard County on Parcel Chart's free map and click your parcel. Save it with a free account; the full record of your place (site map, projects, documents) is Pro, in early access.
Questions
Common questions about Howard County
- When was Howard County founded?
- Howard County was founded in 1876, formed from Tom Green County and Shackelford County, and named after Volney Howard.
- What is the county seat of Howard County?
- The county seat of Howard County is Big Spring.
- Is there an online parcel map for Howard County?
- Yes. Howard County publishes a parcel map of 20,593 parcels, rated good enough here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
- Has Howard County's boundary or name changed?
- Howard County was created in 1876 from Tom Green County and Shackelford County. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 11 later changes, chiefly involving Martin County, Mitchell County and Lynn County.
- Is my lot in a flood zone?
- We do not have flood maps for Howard County yet. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which shows the effective flood map for any lot.
Nearby