[4] It is named for George Washington Cottle,[5] who died defending the Alamo.

[6] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 902 sq mi (2,340 km2), of which 901 sq mi (2,330 km2) are land and 1.1 square miles (2.8 km2) (0.1%) is covered by water.

[7] As of the census[13] of 2000, 1,904 people, 820 households, and 550 families resided in the county.

Until 2000, Cottle County went consistently Democratic in presidential elections, except for the 1928 election, when sentiment against Al Smith’s devout Catholic faith and opposition to Prohibition allowed Herbert Hoover to carry the county with 51% of the vote.

[17] After Jimmy Carter carried it in 1976 and 1980,[18][19] Walter Mondale won a majority of the county's votes in 1984,[20] Michael Dukakis won the county in 1988[21] and Bill Clinton carried it in 1992 and 1996.

In 2012, Mitt Romney received 555 votes to Barack Obama’s 180,[25] and in 2016, Hillary Clinton won fewer than 100 votes in the county, less than a tenth as many as Jimmy Carter 40 years before.