Hamilton County is a county located on the Edwards
Plateau in Central Texas. In 2000, its population was 8,229.
Hamilton County is named for James Hamilton Jr., a former governor
of South Carolina who gave financial aid to the Republic of Texas.
The county seat is Hamilton.
Hamilton County, in Central Texas, is bounded on the north by
Comanche, Erath, and Johnson counties, on the west by Mills County,
and on the south by Lampasas and Coryell counties. Its center lies
at 31°47' north latitude and 98°13' west longitude, 114 miles north
of Austin. The county was named for James Hamilton, a South
Carolina governor who invested some $216,000 in gold to finance the
Texas struggle for independence from Mexico. It covers 844 square
miles wooded with pecan, live oak, elm, cedar, and post oak. Soils
range from the sandy loams and sands and the dark, limy, crumbly,
clays of the prairie, to the rich alluvial bottoms of the river
valleys. The elevation of the county ranges between 900 and 1,600
feet above sea level. Except for the northwestern part, which lies
in the Western Cross Timbers region, the county is rolling prairie
marked by numerous flat-topped buttes that rise abruptly to stand
on the divides between the county's many streams. The county is
drained by the Leon, Lampasas, and Bosque rivers. Many of its deep,
wide stream valleys are bordered by limestone cliffs that abut the
intervening flat divides. The average annual rainfall is 29.61
inches; the average minimum temperature in January is 34° F, and
the average maximum in July is 96°. The growing season lasts 239
days. The agriculture of the local economy earns about $31 million
yearly, 90 percent of which derives from cattle, hogs, sheep,
goats, and poultry. Crops include sorghums, small grains, cotton,
hay, and pecans; irrigated land totals about 5,000 acres. The
county's agribusiness also includes more than forty dairies. The
manufacture of garments, wooden molding, steel products, and other
goods earns the county about $5 million annually. Hamilton County
has limited and declining oil production; production was about
5,000 barrels in 1982 and 2,067 in 1990. Major roads include U.S
Highway 281 (north to south) and State highways 36 (northwest to
southeast) and 22 (east to west).
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