Gonzales County, Texas

Gonzales County
County
The Gonzales County Courthouse. The Second Empire style building was added to National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Location within the U.S. state of Texas
Texas's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 29°27′N 97°29′W
Country	United States
State	Texas
Founded	1837
Named for	City of Gonzales
Seat	Gonzales
Largest city	Gonzales
Area
• Total	1,070 sq mi (2,800 km2)
• Land	1,067 sq mi (2,760 km2)
• Water	3.2 sq mi (8 km2)  0.3%
Population  (2010)
• Total	19,807
• Density	19/sq mi (7/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional districts	27th, 34th
Website	www.co.gonzales.tx.us

Gonzales County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 19,807. The county is named for its county seat, the city of Gonzales. The county was created in 1836 and organized the following year.

History

• Paleo-Indians Hunter-gatherers were here thousands of years ago; the later Coahuiltecan, Tonkawa, and Karankawa migrated into the area in the 14th century, but lost much of their population by the 18th century due to new infectious diseases contracted by contact with European explorers. The historic Comanche and Waco tribes later migrated into the area and competed most with European American settlers of the nineteenth century.
• 1519–1685 Hernando Cortez and Alonso Álvarez de Pineda claim Texas for Spain.
• 1685–1690 France plants its flag on Texas soil, but departs after only five years.
• 1821 Mexico claims its independence from Spain. European Americans migrated to settle in Texas and claimed Mexican citizenship.
• 1825

Green DeWitt's petition for a land grant to establish a colony in Texas is approved by the Mexican government.

Gonzales is established and named for Rafael Gonzales, governor of Coahuila y Tejas.

• 1828 When Jean Louis Berlandier visits, he finds settler cabins, a fort-like barricade, agriculture and livestock, as well as nearby villages of Tonkawa and Karankawa.
• 1829, September 15 – Mexican President Vicente Ramon Guerrero, a former slave of Spanish, African and Native American descent, emancipates all slaves within the Republic of Mexico:

1st – Slavery is abolished in the republic.

2nd – Consequently, those who have been until now considered slaves are free.

3rd – When the circumstances of the treasury may permit, the owners of the slaves will be indemnified in the mode that the laws may provide. And in order that every part of this decree may be fully complied with, let it be printed, published, and circulated.

Given at the Federal Palace of Mexico, the 15th of September, 1829.

Vicente Guerrero To José María Bocanegra

• 1831 The Coahuila y Tejas government sends a six-pound cannon to Gonzales for settlers' protection against Indian raids.
• 1835

The colony sends delegates to conventions (1832–1835) to discuss disagreements with Mexico.

September – The Mexican government views the conventions as treason. Troops are sent to Gonzales to retrieve the cannon.

October 2 – The Battle of Gonzales becomes the first shots fired in the Texas Revolution. The colonists put up armed resistance, with the cannon pointed at the Mexican troops, and above it a banner proclaiming, "Come and take it". Commemoration of the event becomes the annual "Come and Take It Festival".

October 13 – December 9 – Siege of Bexar becomes the first major campaign of the Texas Revolution.

• 1836

Gonzales County is established.

February 23 – Alamo messenger Launcelot Smithers carries to the people of Gonzales, the Colonel William Barret Travis letter stating the enemy is in sight and requesting men and provisions.

February 24 – Captain Albert Martin delivers to Smithers in Gonzales the infamous "Victory or Death" Travis letter addressed "To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World" stating the direness of the situation. Smithers then takes the letter to San Felipe, site of the provisional Texas government.

February 27 – The Gonzales Alamo Relief Force of 32 men, led by Lieutenant George C. Kimble, depart to join the 130 fighters already at the Alamo.

March 1 – The Gonzales "Immortal 32" make their way inside the Alamo.

March 2 – Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico establishes the Republic of Texas.

March 6 – The Alamo falls.

March 13–14 – Susanna Dickinson, the widow of the Alamo defender Almaron Dickinson, arrives in Gonzales with her daughter Angelina and Colonel Travis' slave Joe. Upon hearing the news of the Alamo, Sam Houston orders the town of Gonzales torched to the ground, and establishes his headquarters under a county oak tree.

April 21–22 – Battle of San Jacinto, Antonio López de Santa Anna captured.

May 14 – Santa Anna signs the Treaties of Velasco.

• 1838 Gonzales men found the town of Walnut Springs (later Seguin) in the northwest section of the county.
• 1840 Gonzales men join the Battle of Plum Creek against Buffalo Hump and his Comanches.
• 1845, December 29 – Texas Annexation by the United States
• 1846, May 13 – The United States Congress officially declares war on Mexico.
• 1848, February 2 – Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ends the Mexican-American War.
• 1850 Gonzales College is founded by slave-owning planters, and is the first institution in Texas to confer A.B. degrees on women.
• 1853 The Gonzales Inquirer begins publication.
• 1860 County population is 8,059, including 3,168 slaves.
• 1861

County votes 802–80 in favor of secession from the Union.

February 1 – Texas secedes from the Union

March 2 – Texas joins the Confederate States of America

• 1863

January 1 – The Emancipation Proclamation.

December – The Confederacy commissions Fort Waul, and constructs it with slave labor.

• 1865

April 9 – Robert E. Lee formally surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House.

April 15 – President Abraham Lincoln dies of a head wound inflicted by assassin John Wilkes Booth.

June 19 – Major General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston to enforce the emancipation of all slaves. It is the first time African Americans in Texas know of the Emancipation. The date becomes celebrated annually in Texas as Juneteenth, and later as an official state holiday known as Emancipation Day.

December 6 – The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits slavery.

• 1866–1876 The Sutton–Taylor feud, which involves outlaw John Wesley Hardin, and was reported as the bloodiest and longest in Texas history. Hardin's hide-out is known to be the community of Pilgrim.
• 1870, March 30 – The United States Congress readmits Texas into the Union.
• 1874 The Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway is built through the eastern and northern part of the county.
• 1877 The Texas and New Orleans Railway comes to the county.
• 1881 The Gonzales Branch Railroad is chartered.
• 1885 The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway runs through the county.
• 1894 John Wesley Hardin is released from prison and returns to Gonzales, where he passes the bar exam and practices law.
• 1898 Twenty-three county men serve, with two casualties, during the Spanish–American War. Three serve with the Rough Riders.
• 1905 The Southern Pacific line bypasses the community of Rancho.
• World War I – 1,106 men from the county serve.
• 1935 – Governor James Allred dedicates a monument in the community of Cost, commemorating the first shot of the Texas Revolution. Sculptress is Waldine A. Tauch.
• 1936 Palmetto State Park opens to the public.
• 1939 The Gonzales Warm Springs Foundation opens for the treatment of polio.
• World War II – 3,000 men from Gonzales County serve, with 79 casualties.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,070 square miles (2,800 km²), of which 1,067 square miles (2,760 km²) is land and 3.2 square miles (8.3 km²) (0.3%) is water.

Major highways

• Interstate 10
• U.S. Highway 87
• U.S. Highway 90
• 
  U.S. Highway 90 Alternate
• U.S. Highway 183
• State Highway 80
• State Highway 97
• State Highway 304

Adjacent counties

• Fayette County (northeast)
• Lavaca County (east)
• Dewitt County (southeast)
• Karnes County (southwest)
• Wilson County (southwest)
• Guadalupe County (west)
• Caldwell County (northwest)

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1850	1,492		—
1860	8,059		440.1%
1870	8,951		11.1%
1880	14,840		65.8%
1890	18,016		21.4%
1900	28,882		60.3%
1910	28,055		−2.9%
1920	28,438		1.4%
1930	28,337		−0.4%
1940	26,075		−8.0%
1950	21,164		−18.8%
1960	17,845		−15.7%
1970	16,375		−8.2%
1980	16,883		3.1%
1990	17,205		1.9%
2000	18,628		8.3%
2010	19,807		6.3%
2016 (est.)	20,876		5.4%
U.S. Decennial Census 1850–2010 2010–2014

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,628 people, 6,782 households, and 4,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 17 people per square mile (7/km²). There were 8,194 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 72.25% White, 8.39% Black or African American, 0.53% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 16.48% from other races, and 2.01% from two or more races. 39.62% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,782 households out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.00% were married couples living together, 12.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.00% under the age of 18, 8.70% from 18 to 24, 25.70% from 25 to 44, 20.90% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,368, and the median income for a family was $35,218. Males had a median income of $23,439 versus $17,027 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,269. About 13.80% of families and 18.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.60% of those under age 18 and 19.40% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• Gonzales (county seat)
• Nixon (small part in Wilson County)
• Smiley
• Waelder

Unincorporated communities

• Bebe
• Belmont
• Cost
• Harwood
• Leesville
• Monthalia
• Ottine
• Pilgrim
• Thompsonville
• Wrightsboro

Ghost towns

• Albuquerque
• Cheapside

Politics

Presidential Elections Results

Year	Republican	Democratic	Third Parties
2016	72.3% 4,587	24.7% 1,571	3.0% 191
2012	69.6% 4,216	29.3% 1,777	1.1% 64
2008	64.8% 4,076	34.5% 2,167	0.7% 44
2004	71.3% 4,291	28.4% 1,709	0.4% 22
2000	67.4% 4,092	30.9% 1,877	1.7% 100
1996	51.9% 2,687	40.7% 2,110	7.4% 385
1992	45.0% 2,502	36.1% 2,006	18.9% 1,049
1988	50.4% 2,983	49.0% 2,897	0.6% 36
1984	64.2% 3,962	35.6% 2,196	0.2% 14
1980	49.5% 2,931	48.9% 2,896	1.6% 95
1976	35.6% 1,789	64.1% 3,219	0.4% 18
1972	69.8% 2,707	30.0% 1,164	0.1% 5
1968	33.6% 1,476	44.0% 1,930	22.4% 983
1964	26.2% 1,190	73.7% 3,348	0.2% 7
1960	36.2% 1,554	63.6% 2,730	0.2% 7
1956	43.8% 1,767	56.0% 2,260	0.3% 10
1952	46.7% 2,249	53.2% 2,563	0.1% 3
1948	18.5% 666	72.6% 2,612	8.9% 321
1944	21.1% 841	70.3% 2,804	8.6% 342
1940	19.4% 722	80.6% 3,008	0.1% 2
1936	11.6% 352	88.2% 2,674	0.2% 7
1932	9.0% 337	90.8% 3,384	0.2% 7
1928	45.7% 1,112	54.3% 1,319
1924	14.1% 463	76.0% 2,499	10.0% 328
1920	30.1% 748	52.3% 1,299	17.6% 437
1916	27.3% 649	70.4% 1,675	2.4% 57
1912	17.4% 318	72.6% 1,327	10.0% 182

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Gonzales County, Texas

External links

• Gonzales County government's website
• Gonzales County from the Handbook of Texas Online