Blanco County

Blanco County is in the Hill Country of south central Texas, bordered on the west by Gillespie County, on the north by Burnet and Llano counties, on the east by Hays County, and on the south by Kendall and Comal counties. Johnson City, the county seat, is four miles north of the center of the county, forty miles west of Austin and sixty miles northwest of San Antonio. The county's center lies at 30° 23' north latitude and 98° 24' west longitude. Blanco County comprises 714 square miles of the eastern edge of the Edwards Plateau and has an elevation range of 800 to 1,850 feet above sea level. The terrain is generally hilly to mountainous, and along some streambeds the landscape has a "stairstep" appearance due to limestone benches and steep slopes. The vegetation consists mainly of stands of live oak and Ashe juniper, with mesquite and grasses. The soils are generally dark, calcareous, stony, clay loams with rock outcrops. Mineral resources include limestone, lead, oil, gas, industrial sand, and dolomite. Most of the county is best suited for rangeland and wildlife habitat. The northern and central part, about two-thirds of the total area, drains into the Colorado River in Travis County through Miller and Cypress creeks and the Pedernales River. The southern third of the county drains into the Guadalupe River through the Blanco and Little Blanco rivers. The temperatures range from an average high of 96° F in July to an average low of 34° in January, the rainfall averages 34.39 inches per year, and the growing season extends an average of 234 days.

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