Title: German Immigration to Texas | AmericansAll
Headings: German Immigration to Texas
Ethnic and Culture Group, American History

German Immigration to Texas Ethnic and Culture Group, American History
Content: German Immigration to Texas | AmericansAll
German Immigration to Texas Ethnic and Culture Group, American History
German Immigration to Texas [Texas State Historical Association Texas ] (c.1830 - ?) Ethnic and Culture Group, American History
The largest ethnic group in Texas derived directly from Europe was persons of German birth or descent. As early as 1850, they constituted more than 5 percent of the total Texas population, a proportion that remained constant through the remainder of the nineteenth century. Intermarriage has blurred ethnic lines, but the 1990 United States census revealed that 2,951,726 Texans, or 17½ percent of the total population, claimed pure or partial German ancestry. Germans rank behind Hispanics and form the third-largest national-origin group in the state. However, most persons of German descent do not regard themselves as ethnic Germans. From their first immigration to Texas in the 1830s, the Germans tended to cluster in ethnic enclaves. A majority settled in a broad, fragmented belt across the south-central part of the state. This belt stretched from Galveston and Houston on the east to Kerrville, Mason, and Hondo in the west; from the fertile, humid Coastal Plain to the semiarid Hill Country.