Harris County

Harris County is located in the U.S. state of Texas, located in the southeastern part of the state near Galveston Bay. As of the 2010 census, the population was 4,092,459, making it the most populous county in Texas and the third most populous county in the United States. Its county seat is Houston, the largest city in Texas and fourth largest city in the United States. The county was founded in 1836 and organized in 1837. It is named for John Richardson Harris, who founded the town of Harrisburg on Buffalo Bayou in 1826. According to a July 2018 census estimate, Harris County's population had grown to 4,698,619, comprising over 16% of Texas's population. Harris County is included in the nine-county Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, which is the fifth-most populous metropolitan area in the United States.

Human remains date habitation to about 4,000 BC. Other evidence of humans in the area dates from about 1,400 BC, 1 AD, and later in the first millennium. The region became uninhabited from 1 AD until European contact. On the other hand, little European activity predates 1821. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca may have visited the area in 1529. French traders recorded passing through in the 18th century. Spaniards attempted to establish a fort in the area around the same time, but did not persist for long.

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