Gonzales County, Texas

Gonzales County Education, Geography, and History

Gonzales County is a county located in the state of Texas. Based on the 2010 census, its population was 19,807. The county is named for its county seat, the city of Gonzales. The county was created in 1836 and organized the following year.

Etymology - Origin of Gonzales County Name

its county seat, which in turn was named for Rafael Gonzales, governor of Coahuila y Tejas.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Gonzales County History

Gonzales County is a county located in the US state of Texas. It is named for its seat, the city of Gonzales

Handbook of Texas Online
Gonzales County, named for the capital of Green DeWitt's colony, was established in 1836 and organized in 1837 as one of the original counties in the Republic of Texas. It occupied the same area as DeWitt's colony-a territory some sixty miles long and twenty-five miles wide, with an area of 1,100 square miles. After the annexation of Texas to the United States in 1845, portions of Gonzales County were detached to form what are now the counties of Caldwell, Comal, DeWitt, Fayette, Guadalupe, Jackson, Lavaca, and Victoria. James W. Robinson, the first official of Gonzales County, was appointed district judge by the Congress of the Republic of Texas in 1836. In 1837 an election was held for the "depopulated counties"; those settlers who had participated in the Runaway Scrape or were temporarily living in other locations voted in this election. On December 14, 1837, the first Gonzales county court was organized, with B. D. McClure as chief justice. The settlers of DeWitt's colony obtained land grants and patents in the fertile blackland valleys of the Guadalupe and San Marcos rivers and along the major creeks, including Plum Creek (now in Caldwell County), Rocky Creek (now in Lavaca County), Peach Creek (named Arroyo de los Theodolites before Anglo settlement), Sandy Fork, and Sandies and Salt creeks. Early Gonzales County settlers had established farms and ranches first in the river valleys, then in the sandy lands, and finally on the black mesquite uplands. Settlers from soil-exhausted southern states quickly converted the rich alluvial soil into productive acreage, finding it possible to grow peaches, grapes, plums, pears, figs, apples, and apricots. Timber was harvested early in the county's history, and walnut was used by skilled local cabinetmakers. Some wheat was raised in the early years, and all kinds of vegetables and some fruits have been raised throughout Gonzales County history, but cotton and corn became the chief crops in the county. Salt was pressed by the pioneers on the salt flats near Pilgrim but was never produced in commercial quantities. By 1840, cotton, corn, potatoes, sugarcane, rye, oats, and barley were produced in abundance, along with significant numbers of hogs and sheep. Early trade passed through Indianola, roughly 100 miles away. More at
Dorcas Huff Baumgartner and Genevieve B. Vollentine, "GONZALES COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcg07), accessed January 23, 2016. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Modified on February 27, 2014. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,070 square miles (2,771 km²), of which, 1,068 square miles (2,765 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (6 km²) of it (0.19%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Fayette County (northeast)
• Lavaca County (east)
• Dewitt County (southeast)
• Karnes County (southwest)
• Wilson County (southwest)
• Guadalupe County (west)
• Caldwell County (northwest)

Education

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