Williamson County

Williamson County, Texas

Williamson County, Texas

Granger Lake, in Williamson County, Texas. Photo by Jake Carter on Unsplash
Williamson County, Texas

Williamson County, Texas

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

Williamson County, in Central Texas, is on the Balcones Escarpment just north of Austin. Georgetown, the county's largest town, serves as the county seat and is twenty-five miles north of Austin. The county's center is at 30°40' north latitude, 97°35' west longitude. U.S. Highway 183, Interstate Highway 35, and State Highway 95 are the major north-south roads, and U.S. Highway 79 and State Highway 29 cross the county east and west. Williamson County is also crossed by three railroads, the Union Pacific, the Austin Area Terminal Railroad, and the Georgetown line. The county occupies 1,137 square miles and is divided into two regions by the Balcones Escarpment, which runs through the center from north to south along a line from Jarrell to Georgetown to Round Rock. The western half of the county is an extension of the Western Plains and is undulating hilly brushland with an average elevation of 850 feet, while the eastern region is part of the Coastal Plains and is flat to gently rolling with an average elevation of 600 feet. Williamson County is drained in the center and south by the San Gabriel River, which is the only river in the county, and in the north by creeks that run into the Lampasas and Little rivers north of the county line. Soils in the eastern part of the county are mostly dark loamy to clayey "blackland" soils, while those west of the Balcones fault are light to dark and loamy with limey subsoils. The southeast corner of the county has light colored soils with sandy surfaces and clayey subsoils. Vegetation west of the fault is characterized by tall and mid grasses, post and live oak, mesquite, and junipers. The eastern part of the county, which has been extensively utilized for agricultural purposes, is still wooded along its streams with mesquite, oak, pecan, and elm trees. About 30 percent of the land is prime farmland. Mineral resources include dolomite, limestone, sand, gravel, oil, and gas. Among other minerals that play a part in the county economy, limestone is produced as crushed limestone, dimension limestone, fieldstone limestone, and pulverant limestone; sand and gravel are also marketed. In the mid-nineteenth century early settlers found a rich wildlife population of buffalo, deer, bears, mountain lions, alligators, and various kinds of small wild game including wild turkeys, but all of these except deer and small game were hunted to extinction by 1900. Temperatures in the area range from an average high of 96° F in July to an average low of 36° in January. Rainfall averages thirty-four inches a year, and the growing season averages 258 days annually.

The area has been the site of human habitation since at least 4500 B.C., and possibly considerably before that. Evidence of Archaic Period inhabitants has been recovered from burned rock middens near Round Rock along Brushy Creek, at several sites along the San Gabriel that are now inundated by Granger Lake, and at the Ischy site west of Georgetown. The earliest known historical occupants of the county, the Tonkawas, were a flint-working, hunting people who followed the buffalo on foot and periodically set fire to the prairie to aid them in their hunts. During the eighteenth century they made the transition to a horse culture and used firearms to a limited extent. Decimated by European diseases and by warfare with Cherokees and Comanches, the Tonkawas were generally friendly towards the early settlers of Williamson County but were nevertheless removed from Central Texas by the 1850s. Lipan Apaches and Comanches were also associated with the area that would become Williamson County. Before the arrival of Europeans in the area, the Lipan Apaches ranged through the western part of present Williamson County, and after Spanish missions were established on the San Gabriel River in the eighteenth century the Indians frequently raided the missions for horses. Their enemies, the Comanches, arrived in the area in the eighteenth century and lived in parts of the territory of Williamson County until as late as 1838. After they were crowded out by White settlement, the Comanches continued to raid settlements in the county until the 1860s. There also appear to have been small numbers of Kiowa, Yojuane, Tawakoni, and Mayeye Indians living in the county at the time of the earliest Anglo settlements. While Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca may have traveled through the area in the sixteenth century, it was probably first explored by Europeans in the late seventeenth century, when Capt. Alonso De León sought a route between San Antonio and the Spanish missions in East Texas that would serve as a drier alternative to the more southerly Camino Real. The new route passed through the area of Williamson County along Brushy Creek and the San Gabriel River and was called Camino de Arriba. In 1716 two explorers in the Spanish service, Louis Juchereau de St. Denis and Domingo Ramón, led an expedition that passed through the area and camped on Brushy Creek and the San Gabriel River, naming them respectively Arroyo de las Bendítas Ánimas and Rio de San Xavier. The San Xavier missions, which were founded in the mid-eighteenth century and occupied a series of sites along the San Gabriel River, were just over the eastern border of Williamson County in present-day Milam County, and the area was extensively explored by the Spanish. During the Mexican period parts of the county were awarded as land grants, first to several Mexican families, then as part of Robertson's colony, but no settlement resulted from these grants.

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Mark Odintz | © 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

Williamson County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

400 ft – 1360 ft

Size

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

  • Land Area: 1,118.3 mi²
  • Total Area: 1,134.4 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 36.5°F
July mean maximum: 94.9°F

Rainfall, 2019

35.7 inches

Population Count, 2019

590,551

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

306,343

Unemployment, 2019

7.0%

Property Values, 2019

$72,732,892,034 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$50,776 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$9,823,429,485 USD

Wages, 2019

$3,130,449,900 USD

Williamson County

Highlighted:
  • Williamson County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
Town
Town Yes
Town
Town 300 (2009) Yes
Town 964,177 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 1,643 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 80 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 22,972 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 78,693 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town 50 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 290 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 1,201 (2021) Yes
Town 25 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 75,420 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 1,193 (2021) Yes
Lake Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 60 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 60 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 30,855 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 2,111 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town 18,409 (2021) Yes
Town 60 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Lake Yes
Town 40 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 67,124 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 6,801 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 475 (2009) Yes
Town 70 (2009) Yes
Town 40 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 130 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 123,876 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town 60 (2009) Yes
Town 3,410 (2021) Yes
Town
Town 175 (2009) Yes
Town 1,668 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 6,765 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 50 (2009) Yes
Town
Town 16,807 (2021) Yes
Town 30 (2009) Yes
Town 860 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town 40 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town 277 (2009) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town 70 (2009) Yes
Town 714 (2021) Yes
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town
Town

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