Gonzales County is a county located in the U.S. state of
Texas. In 2000, its population was 18,628. It is named for its
seat, the city of Gonzales.
Gonzales County is south of Austin on U.S. highways 87, 90, 90A,
and 183 and Interstate Highway 10. Gonzales is the county seat.
Gonzales County, bordered by DeWitt, Lavaca, Fayette, Caldwell, and
Guadalupe counties, comprises some 683,295 acres and 1,046.4 square
miles, with elevations above sea level ranging from 2 to 400 feet.
Major rivers that flow through the county include the San Marcos
and the Guadalupe. The average annual rainfall is 32.6 inches, the
annual temperature is 70° F, and the growing season averages 276
days a year. Three major land-resource areas in Gonzales County are
the Texas Claypan Prairie, the Southern Blackland Prairie, and the
Northern Rio Grande Plain. Seventy-five types of soils overlying
nineteen different geologic formations have been identified in the
county, the most diversified variety of any county in the state.
Dark red sandstone is abundant in the northern and western areas of
the county and quantities of light tan and gray sandstone have been
quarried in the eastern area; both types of sandstone have been
used as building material since the earliest arrival of settlers in
the area. Typical vegetation in the county ranges from post oak
savannah with tall grasses, post oak, and blackjack oak in the
Texas Claypan area, to the dense growth of mesquiteqv, prickly
pear, brush, and low-growing grasses of the northern Rio Grande
Plain, to the live oaks and pecan and walnut trees of the southern
Blackland Prairie and timberlands. The walnut trees were a valuable
source of wood for the numerous cabinetmakers that settled in the
county; the demand for walnut was so great during the late 1800s
that the trees were completely cleared. Natural resources include
clay, used in the manufacture of household and personal-care
products; sand and gravel, mined for road base and construction
material; bentonite clay, used as a sealant; and oil, gas, and
uranium (see URANIUM MINING). Large amounts of unconsolidated
volcanic ash are found throughout the county, and at one time peat
moss was mined in the Ottine area. The Salt Creek Flats in the
southern portion of the county furnished the early settlers with
enough salt to satisfy their needs, but salt was never produced
commercially there. Continuous human occupation has been documented
in the Guadalupe River basin from the late Paleo-Indian period
through the early historic period. Artifacts from hunter-gatherer
groups, including pottery shards, worked stone, and bifaced stone
tools, have been discovered. The Cuero I Archeological District, in
Gonzales and DeWitt counties, is listed in the National Register of
Historic Places. Bones of extinct animals have been located at
Ottine. In historic times Coahuiltecan tribes occupied the
area.
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