Kerr County

Kerr County, Texas

Kerr County, Texas

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

Kerr County, Texas

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

Kerr County is fifty miles northwest of San Antonio in the Edwards Plateau region of south central Texas. The irregularly shaped county is bounded on the northeast by Gillespie County, on the east by Kendall County, on the south by Bandera County, on the southwest by Real County, on the west by Edwards County, and on the northwest by Kimble County. The center of the county lies at approximately 30°04' north latitude and 99°20' west longitude. The county was named for James Kerr, an Old Three Hundred colonist and an important figure in the Texas Revolution. Kerrville is the county seat, and Ingram is the only other incorporated community. The county is served by Interstate Highway 10, U.S. highways 83 and 87, and State highways 16, 27, and 39. Kerr County is drained by the Guadalupe River and its tributaries and covers 1,107 square miles of undulating to hilly land with elevations that range from 1,500 to 2,000 feet above sea level. Annual rainfall is thirty inches. January's average minimum temperature is 32° F; July's average maximum is 94° F. The county has a growing season of 216 days, and between 1 and 10 percent of the land is considered prime farmland. In the northwest area of the county soils are dark and loamy over limestone; to the south and east soils are variable with light colored brown to red soils in some areas and dark loamy or loamy soils over clayey subsoils elsewhere. The county is in the Edwards Plateau vegetation area, characterized by buffalograss, wildrye, and switchgrass, and by live oak, shinnery oak, junipers, and mesquite trees.

Kerr County is in a region that has been the site of human habitation for thousands of years. Archeological artifacts found in the area, particularly along the Guadalupe River and its forks, suggest that human inhabitants arrived between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. During historical times Lipan Apaches, Comanches, and Kiowas hunted in the region. Spanish military units traversed the area while attempting to defend San Antonio from Apache incursions in the mid-eighteenth century. The first attempt at Anglo settlement in the area of the present Kerr County occurred in 1846 when Joshua D. Brown led a group of ten men to the Guadalupe River and established a shingle-making camp at the site of present Kerrville. They were soon driven off by Indians, only to return to the site, which they named Brownsborough, in 1848. A number of settlers moved into the area in the early 1850s, erecting sawmills on the various streams and establishing farms. Indian raids became increasingly troublesome in the early 1850s, and in response the United States Army established a post at Camp Verde in southern Kerr County on July 8, 1855. This post became the headquarters for the famed experiment with camels as transport, and promoted development in the area as well as providing protection. Settlers faced the dangers of Indian attack for the next twenty years, and the final raid took place in 1878.

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Mark Odintz | © TSHA

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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

Kerr County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

1400 ft – 2420 ft

Size

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

  • Land Area: 1,103.3 mi²
  • Total Area: 1,107.3 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 33.8°F
July mean maximum: 92.2°F

Rainfall, 2019

32.1 inches

Population Count, 2019

52,600

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

21,364

Unemployment, 2019

6.6%

Property Values, 2019

$7,119,284,653 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$50,150 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$961,915,014 USD

Wages, 2019

$215,580,613 USD

Kerr County

Highlighted:
  • Kerr County
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Town 41 (2014) Yes
Town 1,759 (2021) Yes
Town 200 (2009) Yes
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Town 24,477 (2021) Yes
Town 6,600 (2014) Yes
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Town 96 (2014) Yes
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