Milam County

Milam County, Texas

Milam County, Texas

The Milam County Courthouse is located in Cameron, the county seat. Photograph by Larry D. Moore.
Milam County, Texas

Milam County, Texas

Map of Milam County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Milam County is in east central Texas 150 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and is bordered by Robertson, Burleson, Lee, Williamson, Bell, and Falls counties. Cameron, the county seat, is at the intersection of U.S. highways 77 and 190 on the Burlington, Northern, Santa Fe Railway, sixty miles northeast of Austin and 140 miles south of Dallas. The county's center lies four miles south of Cameron at 30°47' north latitude and 96°59' west longitude. The present county covers 1,019 square miles of level to slightly rolling terrain at an elevation that ranges from 250 to 600 feet above sea level. The southern and eastern portions of the county lie in the post oak savannah region of the state, and the northern and western portions lie in the blackland prairie. The land is drained by the Brazos River, which forms the northeastern boundary of the county, by the Little River, which enters the county near the northwestern corner and winds to its mouth on the Brazos in the southeastern quadrant of the county, and by the San Gabriel River, which flows through the west central portion of the county to its mouth on the Little River. Wildlife in Milam County includes rabbits, wolves, foxes, raccoons, squirrels, opossums, wildcats, skunks, and armadillos, as well as a number of bird, fish, and reptile species. The climate is temperate; the average minimum temperature is 39° F in January, and the average high temperature is 96° in July. The growing season averages 256 days annually, and the rainfall averages thirty-five inches.

The Central Texas region, including Milam County, has supported human habitation for at least 10,000 years. The hunting and gathering peoples who had established themselves along the San Gabriel River by 4500 B.C. were probably ancestors of the Tonkawa Indians. The Lipan Apaches became neighbors of the Tonkawas sometime after 1300. By the eighteenth century the Caddo, the Tehuacana, and the Waco Indians and a composite group, which the Spanish called the Ranchería Grande, also frequented the area. European exploration of what would become Milam County began in the early eighteenth century. Fr. Isidro Felix de Espinosa and Domingo Ramón crossed the San Gabriel and Little rivers in 1716, when the Spanish sent expeditions to hold Texas against the possibility of French settlement. The Spanish also established several missions along the San Gabriel River, in an effort to Christianize the Indians in the region: San Francisco Xavier de Horcasitas, which was built in 1746, and San Ildefonso and Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, which were built in 1749. Disease and unfriendly Indians caused the Spanish to abandon the sites in the mid-1750s. The Tonkawa Indians were generally friendly toward missionaries in the eighteenth and settlers in the early nineteenth centuries, but the nearby Apaches and Comanches presented a constant threat.

Continue Reading

Cecil Harper, Jr., Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Milam County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

250 ft – 648 ft

Size

Land area does not include water surface area, whereas total area does

  • Land Area: 1,016.9 mi²
  • Total Area: 1,021.8 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 33.8°F
July mean maximum: 88.7°F

Rainfall, 2019

37.0 inches

Population Count, 2019

24,823

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

9,271

Unemployment, 2019

8.2%

Property Values, 2019

$3,510,334,244 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$36,135 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$217,584,705 USD

Wages, 2019

$58,223,652 USD

Milam County

Highlighted:
  • Milam County
Loading...
Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
Town
Lake Yes
Town
Town
Town 32 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 15 (2009) Yes
Town 49 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 127 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 372 (2021) Yes
Town 0 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 5,352 (2021) Yes
Town 10 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 35 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 191 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 34 (2012) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 12 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 60 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 234 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 20 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 20 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 40 (2009) Yes
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 45 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 140 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 398 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 100 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 15 (2009) Yes
Town 63 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town 5,398 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 70 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 52 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 1,287 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 35 (2009) Yes

Proud to call Texas home?

Put your name on the town, county, or lake of your choice.


Search Places »