A Bit of Texas History
History of Land Ownership in Texas
The history of land ownership in Texas dates to 1540, when Spain made the first formal claim on Texas lands. Coronado made the claim at the town of Ysleta on the Rio Grande. The first Spanish settlers arrived in 1716.
It is believed that the first land grant was made in 1731, somewhere near present-day San Antonio. Many land grants around this time were given to Native Americans on the condition that they maintain the land under cultivation and production. The largest of these Spanish land grants covered 939 square miles (600,960 acres) in Cameron County.
In 1821, Mexico overthrew Spain. Texas remained under Mexican control until 1835. Under Spanish and Mexican control, almost 26.3 million acres were granted to private owners. Mexico began to settle Texas with Anglo-American colonists. Over 9,000 families were attracted to Texas by empresarios (a Spanish term for contractor), such as Stephen F. Austin.
In 1835, the Mexican government was overthrown and the Republic of Texas established. The Republic issued grants for 1,329,200 acres. During its initial offering, land certificates were sold at 50 cents per acre to people who had contributed to Texas' fight for freedom. In 1836, the GLO was established. In 1846, Texas was annexed by the United States.
After annexation, a dispute arose over Texas' boundaries. The United States subsequently paid $15.5 million to settle the dispute involving claims to land that today are in New Mexico and Colorado. This settlement delineated Texas' boundaries, which enclose nearly 172.7 million acres.
The state of Texas retained title to all vacant and unappropriated lands. Along with the land, the state retained liability for its sizable public debt. Public lands were the only asset the state had to address these substantial obligations.
Transfer of Title…from the beginning.
All land in Texas originally belonged to the government of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas or the State of Texas. From the 1500s to the end of the 1800s most of that territory converted from public ownership to private hands. That transfer of sovereignty resulted in a system to record and verify private land titles.
The current system originated when the Republic of Texas created the General Land Office (GLO) to administer the land grant process. Individuals were granted a land certificate for a specified amount of land, dependent on certain criteria being met.
An individual then located available public land, and with the certificate in hand, had the land surveyed. The field notes (a written account of the survey) were filed with the GLO. After fulfilling conditions of the grant (such as making improvements and paying fees) the individual could apply for the patent (original title), which was ultimately granted by the GLO.
A patent is the legal instrument transferring land from the public domain to private ownership. In Texas, the set of records, or title, documenting a land grant from Spanish or Mexican sovereignty provide proof of ownership and are recognized by the state. With a few exceptions, documentation of title to all privately held land in Texas begins with a patent filed with the GLO.
Few landowners ever see the patent, however, because transfer of title is now administered in the county clerk's office of each Texas county. When a property transfers ownership, the instrument (usually a warranty deed) used to document that transfer is filed with the county clerk. The filing serves as notice to the public that the property has changed hands. When property is sold and resold, a chain of title is created.
County clerks maintain an index of sellers (grantors) and buyers (grantees) for all property transactions. Although offices vary in the level of technology they employ, all counties provide a means to search these records. This allows an individual to go to the clerk with the current owner's name and trace the history of title transfers for the property in question through the names of previous owners found in the deed records.
