Blanco County, Texas

Blanco County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population is 8,418. Its county seat is Johnson City^[1]. Blanco is named for the Blanco River which traverses the county. The State of Texas formed Blanco County in 1858 from portions of Burnet, Comal, Gillespie and Hays Counties. The city of Blanco served as the county seat from 1858 to 1890, when it was moved to Johnson City.

History Timeline

• 1150 a.d. Indigenous peoples first inhabitants, possible ancestors of the Lipan Apache. ^[2]

• 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. ^[3]

• 1690-1821 Spanish missions and settlements flourish in Texas.

• 1721 José de Azlor y Virto de Vera names the Blanco River.

• 1821 Mexico claims its independence from Spain. Anglos from the north settle in Texas and claim Mexican citizenship.

• 1826 Benjamin Milam is given a contract to settle 300 families between the Colorado and Guadalupe rivers.

• 1829, September 15 - Mexican President Vicente Ramon Guerrero, himself an ex-slave of Spanish, African and Native American descent, emancipates all slaves within the Republic of Mexico: ^{[4] [5]}

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

• 1835 Jesse L. McCrocklin, Horace Eggleston, Noel Mixon, and Benjamin Williams each receive a league of land (about 4428.4 acres) in Blanco County.

• 1836

Comanches claim all land in Blanco County.

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

March 6 - The Alamo falls.

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

May 14 - Santa Anna signs the Treaties of Velasco.

• 1845, December 29 - Texas Annexation by the United States

• 1846, May 13 - The United States Congress officially declares war on Mexico.

• 1847 Meusebach•Comanche Treaty ^[6]

• 1848, February 2 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ends the Mexican-American War.

• 1850’s Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr., grandfather of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, and his brother Jesse Thomas Johnson, set up a cattle business in Johnson City. ^[7] The town is named after their nephew James Polk Johnson. ^[8] The Johnson family emigrated from Alabama.

• 1854-1855

Captain James Hughes Callahan and Eli Clemens Hinds become Blanco's first white settlers.

Joseph Bird establishes Birdtown, now Round Mountain.

General John D. Pitts, Judge William S. Jones, Andrew M. Lindsay, James Hughes Callahan and F.W. Chandler charter the Pittsburgh Land Company. They purchase the league granted to Horace Eggleston by the government of Coahuila y Tejas in 1835 and lay out the town of Pittsburgh, Texas, named for General Pitts, across the river from the site of future Blanco.

May 14-15, San Antonio - The Texas State Convention of Germans adopt a political, social and religious platform, including: 1) Equal pay for equal work; 2) Direct election of the President of the United States; 3) Abolition of capital punishment; 4)“Slavery is an evil, the abolition of which is a requirement of democratic principles..”; 5) Free schools • including universities - supported by the state, free of religious influence; and 6) Total separation of church and state.^[9]

• 1858, February 12 - Blanco County is formed from parts of Comal, Hays, Burnet and Gillespie, and is named for the Blanco River. County seat is also named Blanco.

• 1860 Population of 1218, includes 98 slaves. Settlers are mostly Anglo-Saxon Protestants hailing from Tennessee and Alabama. Agriculture and livestock are central to the economy.

• 1861

County votes against secession from the Union.

February 1, Texas secedes from the Union.

March 2, Texas joins the Confederate States of America.

• 1862 Legislature establishes Kendall from part of Blanco southwestern border. Legislature in turn incorporates parts of Hays and Burnet into Blanco.

• 1863, January 1 • The Emancipation Proclamation. ^[10]

• 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. ^[11]

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

• 1870

March 30 - The United States Congress readmits Texas into the Union.

First cotton gin in the county

• 1885 Replacement of courthouse by limestone structure now known as “The Old Courthouse”.

• 1883 Blanco High School is chartered.

• 1897, May 27 - John O. Meusebach dies at his farm at Loyal Valley in Mason County, is buried in the Marschall Meusebach Cemetery at Cherry Spring. ^[12]

• 1891 Johnson City becomes the new county seat.

• 1910 Cotton becomes one of the county’s most important crops.

• 1900-1930 County farmers diversify into peanuts, peaches, pecans, pears, plums, grapes, and figs.

• 1915 Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr. and his wife Rebekah Baines Johnson, parents of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, move into their home in Johnson City with their five children, Lucia, Sam Houston. Josefa, Rebekah, and Lyndon Baines Johnson. ^[13]

• 1929 More than 20,000 peach and pecan trees harvested in the county.

• 1933-1942 Civilian Conservation Corps public work relief program helps improve county parks and infrastructure.

• 1934 Blanco State Park opens. ^[14]

• 1937 Lyndon Baines Johnson launches his first campaign for Congress from the east porch of the family’s Johnson City home.

• 1938 LBJ becomes a fierce advocate for rural electrification. First light bulb turned on in rural Blanco County. ^[15]

• 1960’s Lyndon Johnson becomes Vice President of the United States and subsequently President of the United States. Tourism becomes an important industry.

• 1970 Pedernales Falls State Park opens to the public.

Geography

Blanco County is located in the Hill Country of central Texas, west of Austin and north of San Antonio. Two significant rivers, the Blanco River and the Pedernales River, flow through the county.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 713 square miles (1,848 km²), of which, 711 square miles (1,842 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (6 km²) of it (0.30%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 281
• U.S. Highway 290

Adjacent counties

• Burnet County (north)
• Travis County (northeast)
• Hays County (east)
• Comal County (southeast)
• Kendall County (southwest)
• Gillespie County (west)
• Llano County (northwest)

National protected area

• Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park (part)

Demographics

As of the census^[16] of 2000, there were 8,418 people, 3,303 households, and 2,391 families residing in the county. The population density was 12 people per square mile (5/km²). There were 4,031 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.97% White, 0.74% Black or African American, 0.59% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 5.88% from other races, and 1.62% from two or more races. 15.32% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 3,303 households out of which 30.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.50% were married couples living together, 7.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county, the population was spread out with 24.40% under the age of 18, 6.20% from 18 to 24, 25.60% from 25 to 44, 27.10% from 45 to 64, and 16.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,369, and the median income for a family was $45,382. Males had a median income of $31,717 versus $21,879 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,721. About 8.10% of families and 11.20% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.20% of those under age 18 and 9.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

See also

• USS Blanco County (LST-344)
• Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park [15]

References

1. ^ . National Association of Counties. . Retrieved 2008-01-31.
2. ^ Handbook of Texas, Blanco Co [1]
3. ^ The Six National Flags of Texas [2]
4. ^ The Magnificent Life of Vicente Ramon Guerrero [3]
5. ^ TAMU Chieftans of Mexican Independence [4]
6. ^ Texas Historical Marker, Meusebach-Comanche Treaty [5]
7. ^ Handbook of Texas, Sam Ealy Johnson Sr. [6]
8. ^ Texas Historical Markers, James Polk Johnson [7]
9. ^ TSHA online, Texas State Convention of Germans [8]
10. ^ Government documents, Emancipation Proclamation [9]
11. ^ Cinnamon Hearts Juneteenth [10]
12. ^ Find A Grave, John O. Meusebach [11]
13. ^ Fort Tours, Blanco [12]
14. ^ TPWD Blanco State Park [13]
15. ^ CL Browning Ranch [14]
16. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.

External links

• Blanco County from the Handbook of Texas Online

Coordinates: 30°16′N 98°24′W / 30.27°N 98.40°W

Categories: Texas counties | Blanco County, Texas