Orange County is one of 254 counties of the State of Texas and its county seat is the city of Orange, Texas. As of the 2010 census, its the population was 81,837. Orange County is the county in the very southeastern corner of Texas, with a boundary with Louisiana but does not have a seacoast on the Gulf of Mexico as Jefferson County and Sabine Lake border Orange County to the South. Orange County is located in the general Golden Triangle of Texas - the Jefferson County - Orange County area. Orange County is bordered on its east by the Sabine River - the border with Louisiana, on its southeast by the Gulf of Mexico, on its west by Jefferson County - its parent county, and on its north by three different counties of Texas. Also on its northwestern border is the Neches River. The biggest building in Orange County is the West Orange-Stark Elementary School, built in 2010. See West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District. The geography of Orange County varies relatively little, with an elevation that reaches 33 feet (10 meters) above sea level at very few points within the county. Orange County is very flat, and its soil is quite sandy, as could be expected in a county along the Gulf of Mexico. (Sandy soil is also common in southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and in western and southern Florida.) There are saltwater marshes in much of the southeastern part of Orange County that borders the Sabine River. There are piney woods (sometimes capitalized) in the northern part of the county. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Orange County has a total area of 380 square miles (980 km2), of which 356 square miles (920 km2) is land and 23 square miles (60 km2) (6.10%) is water.
Orange County is in the Central Prairie region of southeastern Texas. The Sabine River on the east forms a natural border between it and the state of Louisiana, and the Neches River forms its south and west boundary. The county seat, Orange, is at 30°05' north latitude and 93°44' west longitude, twenty-four miles east of Beaumont and 288 miles southeast of Dallas. Orange County comprises 362 square miles of two ecological zones; the Gulf prairies and marshes in the southeastern half of the county and the Piney Woods in northwest half of county. The terrain is generally level and low, with elevations ranging from sea level to thirty feet, and is surfaced by loam over clayey subsoils. Both the Sabine and Neches rivers drain to Sabine Lake, which feeds into the Gulf of Mexico through the Sabine Pass. Sabine Lake, the largest lake in the region, is thirty miles long and twenty miles wide. There are seven additional streams in the county. The coastal region has many fish eating and migratory birds, including the white pelican, the heron, the egret, the heron, the wood stork, the white ibis, and sandhill crane. Shorebirds include gulls and terns, upland plover, sandpiper, dowitcher, snipe, and woodcock. Inland a variety of birds include the pheasant, quail, turkey, sandhill crane, duck, geese, woodcock, and jacksnipe. Larger game in the area include squirrel, opossum, muskrat, beaver, otter, mink, ring-tailed cat, badger, raccoon, skunk, civet cat, nutria, coyote, fox, deer, and bobcat. Reptiles and amphibians include toads and frogs, American alligator, turtles, diamond-backed terrapin, black-striped snake, speckled racer, Texas cat-eyed snake, Louisiana Pine snake, and the smooth green snake. The Piney Woods are characterized by pine and hardwood forests. Grassland areas as well as crops are found in concentrations. The Gulf prairies and marshes have similar grassland and crop areas concentrations, but the forests of bald cypress and water tupelo swamplands contrast markedly. The climate in Orange County is subtropical humid with the highest annual rainfall in the state. The annual precipitation average is fifty-six inches, and the average humidity is 89 percent at 6:00 A.M. and 69 percent at 6:00 P.M. The annual average temperature is 68° F, with average temperatures ranging in January from a low of 42° F to a high of 61° F and in July from 74° F to 91° F. The growing season averages 240 days per year, with the last freeze in mid March and the first freeze in early November. The area's plentiful supply of lumber encouraged the growth of early industries involved with ship building, paper manufacture, and wooden products. More recently, oil and gas production and refining have become the major source of economic growth and development. Salt domes, sand, and gravel are other natural resources of economic importance to the region.
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I found my first cache in Orange county on 08/29/2009.
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