King Ranch, located in south Texas between Corpus Christi, Texas and Brownsville, Texas, is one of the world's largest ranches (larger than Rhode Island). It is the largest ranch in the United States. The 825,000 acre (3,340 km²) ranch, founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis, sprawls across six Texas counties, including most of Kenedy County. The ranch was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
King Ranch also raises quarter horses, cutting horses and thoroughbreds and produced the 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault and 1950 Kentucky Derby winner, Middleground. They also owned a share of La Troienne, the greatest broodmare of the Twentieth Century. In addition, the King Ranch company also operates a local museum, maintains other property concerns and works with Texas A&M University to perform agricultural research and development. In 1997, Ford Motor Company added a King Ranch edition to their F-series Super Duty truck line, complete with the King Ranch cattle brand logo.