Created by legislature Feb. 2, 1856, and organized August 4 with Oakville as county seat. Formed from San Patricio and Nueces Counties. Named for its Live Oak trees. County seat moved, 1919, to George West on railroad. Center for ranching, farming, petroleum production and processing. Recreation areas include Tips State Park and Lake Corpus Christi. Historic sites are Fort Ramirez, first settlement; Fort Merrill, built 1850 to protect early settlers; Brownsville-San Antonio Oxcart Road, used by general Santa Anna on the way to the Alamo. Other sites marked.
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