Robertson County

Robertson County is ninety miles northeast of Austin in the Claypan area of east central Texas. The center of the county is at 31°00' north latitude and 96°30' west longitude, near the county seat of Franklin. The county is bounded on the north by Limestone and Leon counties, on the east by Brazos and Madison counties, on the south by Burleson County, and on the west by Milam and Falls counties. State Highway 6 crosses the county north to south, and U.S. Highway 79 runs from east to west. In addition, the Union Pacific Railroad follows Highway 79 across the county, and another branch of the Union Pacific (formerly the Southern Pacific) parallels State Highway 6. These two lines intersect at Hearne,and yet another branch of the Union Pacific runs along the western boundary of the county. Robertson County covers 854 square miles of flat to gently rolling terrain, with elevations ranging from 250 to 500 feet. The county is bounded by the Brazos River in the west, the Navasota River in the east, and the Old San Antonio Road in the south. The region is characterized by rich river bottoms, upland prairies, and timberland that supports post oak, black jack oak, cottonwood, elm, pecan, and mesquite trees. Drainage flows in two directions; from a ridge near mid-county, creeks run toward either the Brazos or the Navasota rivers. The Brazos Bottom, located between the Brazos and Little Brazos River, contains 150,000 acres of fertile delta land. Along the Trinity River are undulating to rolling soils with very dark, loamy surfaces over mottled, cracking, clayey subsoils. Most of the remainder of the county has level to undulating soils with light colored, loamy or sandy surfaces over clayey or loamy subsoils. Between 1 and 10 percent of the county land is considered prime farmland. Natural resources include lignite coal and oil. Wildlife in the county includes squirrels, various species of bats and skunks, and small herbivores such as gophers, mice, rabbits, and armadillos, as well as raccoons, white-tailed deer, opossums, bobcats, coyotes, and red and grey foxes. Frogs, toads, and numerous snake species, including the poisonous copperhead, cottonmouth, coral snake, and rattlesnake are found. A wide variety of birds-mockingbirds, cardinals, doves, quail, and bluejays, to name a few-are also native to the area. The climate is subtropical humid, with warm summers and mild winters. The average annual relative humidity is 83 percent at 6 A. M., and the average rainfall is thirty-eight inches. The average annual temperature is 68° F. Temperatures in January range from an average low of 38° to an average high of 59° F and in July range from 73° to 96° F. The growing season averages 265 days per year, with the last freeze in early March and the first freeze in early December.

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.