McCulloch

Formed January 1, 1856 (113^th county)

McCulloch County (7,634), Brady (5,119)

Right from the page marked county courthouse, the towered Romanesque Revival structure was built in 1899.  It is located on the square at Bridge (United States Highway 377) and Commerce (United States Highway 87).  Martin & Moodie designed this light tan sandstone building.  The building was restored in 2009.  Brady has had the only two county courthouses (1877 and 1899) for McCulloch County since its founding on January 1, 1856.  The county was carved from Bexar County as the 113^th county.  Veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto and later a Republic of Texas legislator and Brigadier General in the Confederacy, Ben McCulloch was the source for the county’s name.  Brady received its name from Peter Brady, one of the original surveyors in the county.  The county has the geographic center for the state 15 miles northeast of Brady. 

McCulloch County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves McCulloch, Kimble, Mason, and Menard counties and One County Court Judge serves McCulloch County.  The Colorado River is its northern border and the San Saba River runs through the southern part of the county.  Abilene, Texas and San Angelo, Texas are to the northwest and Austin, Texas and San Antonio, Texas are to the southeast.  The county center is 2 miles North of Brady.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Coleman, Brown, San Saba, Mason, Menard, and Concho counties. 

The area of the county is 1069 square miles.  It is 56 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 181 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 7.1 persons per square mile making it 183 out of 254 in the state.  McCulloch County has 68.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 87 comes from Concho County on the northwest and goes into Mason County on the south.  United States Highway 190 crosses east to west, San Saba County to Menard County.  United States Highway 283 comes from Coleman County to the northwest and terminates in McCulloch County.  United States Highway 377 enters from the northeast (Brown County), joins United States Highway 87 in Brady, and exits to the south (Mason County.)  Except for the northern border, the remainder of the county shaped like a tall rectangle.  Brady is slightly south of the county center.  Brady is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 67.1% of the county population.  The county is pronounced MA-CUL-LOK.  The county seat is pronounced BRAE-DEE.