Caldwell County

Caldwell County, 120 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico in south central Texas, is bordered by Bastrop, Fayette, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays, and Travis counties. Lockhart, the county seat, is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and Farm Road 20, thirty miles south of Austin and seventy miles northeast of San Antonio. The county's center lies four miles southeast of Lockhart at approximately 29°50' north latitude and 97°37' west longitude. The county comprises roughly 546 square miles of flat to rolling terrain with elevations ranging from 375 to 500 feet above sea level. It is bisected from southwest to northeast by the Luling-Darst Creek fault zone. The northwest part of the county is in the blackland prairie region, where the terrain is low-rolling to flat and tall grasses and mesquite flourish in the black, waxy soils. The southeastern half of the county is more hilly, and the sandy soils support a wider variety of vegetation, including hardwoods such as oak and elm as well as mesquite and grasses. The county is almost entirely within the Guadalupe River basin; it is drained primarily by Plum Creek and its tributaries, and by the San Marcos River, which forms the boundary with Guadalupe County. Wildlife in the area includes deer, javelinas, coyotes, bobcats, beavers, otters, foxes, raccoons, skunks, turkeys, squirrels, and a variety of small birds, fish, and reptiles. Among the county's mineral resources are clay, industrial sand, gravel, oil, and gas. The climate is subtropical and humid, with an average minimum temperature of 38° F in January and an average high temperature of 96° F in July. The growing season averages 274 days annually, and the rainfall averages thirty-five inches.

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.