Caldwell

Formed March 1, 1848 (77^th county)

Caldwell County (45,887), Lockhart (14,379)

The unique towers to the 1894 Second Empire courthouse majestically overlook the center of Lockhart.  It is located two blocks west of the intersection of United States Highway 183 and Texas State Highway 142 at San Antonio and Main.  Alfred Giles designed this limestone and sandstone building.  The building was restored in 2000.  A Judicial Center has replaced the previous center to augment the courthouse using a former commercial building.  Lockhart has had the only three county courthouses for Caldwell County since its founding on March 1, 1848 the others being 1848 and 1858 versions.  The county was formed from Bastrop and Gonzales counties as the 77^th county.  Military commander and one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence, Mathew Caldwell was the source for the county’s name.  He also is the namesake for Burleson’s county seat.  Lockhart received its name from Byrd Lockhart a local landowner. 

Caldwell County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  Two District Court Judges serve Caldwell, Comal, and Hays counties and One District Court Judge and Two County Court Judges serve Caldwell County.  The county is situated just south of Austin, Texas and to the northeast of San Antonio, Texas.  Part of the fertile river lands the Guadalupe River makes up part of its western border.  The county center is 5.5 miles South of Lockhart.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Bastrop, Fayette, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hays, and Travis counties. 

The area of the county is 546 square miles.  It is 235 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 74 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 84.0 persons per square mile making it 51 out of 254 in the state.  Caldwell County has 48.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 10 cuts across the southern tip of the county from Gonzales County, on the east, to Guadalupe County, on the west.  United States Highway 90 parallels Interstate Highway 10 from Gonzales to Guadalupe Counties.  United States Highway 183 enters from Travis County, north, and exits into Gonzales County, southeast.  The county is a 45-degree offset rectangle with Lockhart slightly north and west of center.  Lockhart is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 31.3% of the county population.  This county is in the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area.

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