Formed January 22, 1858 (130th county)
Frio County (17,217), Pearsall (9,146)
Pearsall became the county seat of Frio County in 1904 when the current Spanish courthouse was built. Previously, Frio Town had two courthouses (1872 and 1878) and Old Frio Town had one courthouse serving the county from its January 22, 1858 beginning. Frio County was taken from Atascosa, Bexar, and Uvalde counties as the 130th county. Located three blocks east of United States Highway 81, it is sited at Walnut and San Antonio. Henry T. Phelps provided the design for this tan brick structure. The building was remodeled in 1937 and 1950. Frio County was named for the Frio River. Frio means “cold” in Spanish. The county seat was named for Thomas Pearsall who was the director of the International and Great Northern Railroad.
Frio County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners. Two District Court Judges serve Frio, Atascosa, Karnes, La Salle, and Wilson counties and One County Court Judge serves Frio County. The county is located southwest of San Antonio, Texas and northeast of Laredo, Texas. The Frio River crosses the county from north to south and is joined near Pearsall by the Hondo River. The county center is 4.6 miles South of Pearsall. The county is surrounded clockwise by Medina, Atascosa, McMullen, La Salle, Dimmit, Zavala, and Uvalde counties.
The area of the county is 1134 square miles. It is 50 out of 254 in the state. It ranks 131 out of 254 in population in the state. It has a density of 15.18 persons per square mile making it 148 out of 254 in the state. Frio County has 75.7% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 35 transits north to south from Medina County to La Salle County. United States Highway 57 comes in with Interstate Highway 35 from Medina County, splits, and goes west into Zavala County. The county is rectangular and Pearsall near the center in the county. Pearsall is the county seat and the largest city. It is 53.1% of the county population. The county is pronounced FREE-O. The county seat is pronounced PEER-SALL.
Dilley
Pearsall
