Blanco County (Spanish: "white", ) is a United States

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. It is located in

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas surrounding Austin and roughly bordered by San Saba to Bryan and San Marcos to Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part of the Texas Hill Country and corresponds to a ph ...

and its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Johnson City. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,374. The county is named for the Blanco River that traverses the county.

History

* 1150 AD

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

first inhabitants, possible ancestors of the

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...

. * 1721

José de Azlor y Virto de Vera José de Azlor y Virto de Vera, second Marquis of San Miguel de Aguayo by marriage (born c. 1677 – died 9 March 1734), commonly known as the ''Marqués de Aguayo'', was the governor of the provinces of Coahuila and of the New Philippines in New ...

names the Blanco River. * 1826

Benjamin Milam Benjamin Rush "Ben" Milam (October 20, 1788 – December 7, 1835) was an American colonist of Mexican Texas and a military leader and hero of the Texas Revolution. A native of what is now Kentucky, Milam fought beside American interests during t ...

is given a contract to settle 300 families between the

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

and Guadalupe rivers. * 1836

Comanches The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

claim all land in Blanco County. * 1847

Meusebach–Comanche Treaty The Meusebach–Comanche Treaty was a treaty made on May 9, 1847 between the private citizens of the Fisher–Miller Land Grant in Texas (United States), who were predominantly German in nationality, and the Penateka Comanche Tribe. The treaty ...

* 1850s Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr., grandfather of President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, and his brother Jesse Thomas Johnson, set up a cattle business in Johnson City. The town is named after their nephew James Polk Johnson. The Johnson family emigrated from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. * 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 Coahuila y Tejas, officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila y Tejas (), was one of the constituent states of the newly established United Mexican States under its 1824 Constitution. It had two capitals: first Saltillo (1822–1825) for ...

in 1835 and lay out the town of Pittsburgh, Texas, named for General Pitts, across the river from the site of future Blanco. * 1858, February 12 - Blanco County is formed from parts of

Comal COMAL (''Common Algorithmic Language'') is a computer programming language developed in Denmark by Børge R. Christensen and Benedict Løfstedt and originally released in 1975. COMAL was one of the few structured programming languages that was a ...

, Hays, Burnet and Gillespie, and is named for the Blanco River. County seat is also named

Blanco Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to: People *Blanco (surname) Fictional characters *Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth * Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' * El Blanco, albin ...

. * 1860 Population of 1218, includes 98 slaves. Settlers are mostly

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

hailing from

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and

. Agriculture and livestock are central to the economy. * 1861 County votes against

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

from the Union. * 1862 Legislature establishes Kendall from part of Blanco southwestern border. Legislature in turn incorporates parts of Hays and Burnet into Blanco. * 1885 Replacement of courthouse by limestone structure now known as “The Old Courthouse”. * 1883 Blanco High School is chartered. * 1890 Johnson City becomes the new county seat. * 1910

Cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

becomes one of the county's most important crops. * 1900-1930 County farmers diversify into

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

es,

pecan The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

s, and

figs The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

. * 1915

Samuel Ealy Johnson, Jr. Samuel Ealy Johnson Jr. (October 11, 1877 – October 23, 1937) was an American businessman and politician. He was a United States Democratic Party, Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives representing the Texas House of Represen ...

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. * 1929 More than 20,000 peach and pecan trees harvested in the county. * 1933-1942

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

public work relief program helps improve county parks and infrastructure. * 1934 Blanco State Park opens. * 1937 Lyndon Baines Johnson launches his first campaign for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

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. * 1960s

becomes

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

and subsequently

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. Tourism becomes an important industry. * 1970

Pedernales Falls State Park Pedernales Falls State Park is a 5,212-acre state park situated along the banks of the Pedernales River in Blanco County, Texas in the United States. Location The park is located east of Johnson City, and about 25 miles west of Austin, Texas ...

opens to the public.

Demographics

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 8,418 people, 3,303 households, and 2,391 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

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 White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.74%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.59% Native American, 0.19%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 5.88% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.62% from two or more races. 15.32% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

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 Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

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 Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $19,721. About 8.10% of families and 11.20% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 14.20% of those under age 18 and 9.80% of those age 65 or over.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water. Blanco County is located in the

Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Americ ...

of central Texas, west of

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

and north of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

. Two significant rivers, the

and the Pedernales, flow through the county.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 281 *

U.S. Highway 290 U.S. Route 290 (US 290) is an east–west U.S. Highway located entirely within the state of Texas. Its western terminus is at Interstate 10 southeast of Segovia, and its eastern terminus is at Interstate 610 in northwest Houston. It is the m ...

Ranch Road 1 Ranch Road 1 (RR 1) is a Ranch Road located in Gillespie and Blanco counties, in the central region of the U.S. state of Texas. The highway is approximately , and begins at U.S. Route 290 (US 290) in Stonewall, running along the Pedernale ...

Adjacent counties

* Burnet County (north) *

Travis County Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is na ...

(northeast) *

Hays County Hays County is located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. Hays County is part of the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, its official population had reached 241,067. The county seat is San Marcos. Ha ...

(east) *

Comal County Comal County ( ) is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 161,501. Comal County is known for its rich German-Texan and European history. Its county seat is New Braunfels. ...

(southeast) * Kendall County (southwest) *

Gillespie County Gillespie County is a County (United States), county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 26,725. The county seat is Fredericksburg, Texas, Fredericksburg ...

(west) *

Llano County Llano County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,243. Its county seat is Llano, and the county is named for the Llano River. During the American Civil War, the c ...

(northwest)

National protected area

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in central Texas about west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country. The park protects the birthplace, home, ranch, and final resting place of Lyndon B. Johnson, ...

(part)

Texas Parklands

Politics

Communities

Cities

* Johnson City (county seat)

Town

* Round Mountain

Unincorporated communities

* Blowout * Cypress Mill * Flugrath * Hye * Peyton *

Post Oak ''Quercus stellata'', the post oak or iron oak, is a North American species of oak in the white oak section. It is a slow-growing oak that lives in dry areas on the edges of fields, tops of ridges also grows in poor soils, and is resistant to ro ...

* Rocky Creek * Sandy * Twin Sisters

Education

School districts: * Blanco Independent School District * Fredericksburg Independent School District *

Johnson City Independent School District Johnson City Independent School District is a public school district based in Johnson City, Texas ( USA). Located in Blanco County, small portions of the district extend into Hays, Llano and Travis counties. In 2009, the school district was r ...

Austin Community College The Austin Community College District (ACC) is a public community college system serving the Austin, Texas, metropolitan area and surrounding Central Texas communities. The college maintains numerous campuses, centers, and distance learning opt ...

is the designated community college for the county.Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.166. AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.

References

External links

Blanco County government
*
Blanco County
from the

Texas Almanac The Texas Almanac is a biennially published reference work providing information for the general public on the history of the US state of Texas and its people, government and politics, economics, natural resources, holidays, culture, education, rec ...

Blanco County
from the TXGenWeb Project {{coord, 30.27, -98.40, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1858 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1858 Texas Hill Country