Formed February 1, 1848 (70th county)
Gillespie County (24,837), Fredericksburg (10,530)
Edward Stein designed the Art Deco architecture to the 1939 courthouse. Three courthouses have served Gillespie County since its founding on February 1, 1848, all of them in Fredericksburg, the last being 1882. The county was originally part of Travis and Bexar counties and the 70th county. The building is south of United States Highways 87/290 and on the westside of Texas State Highway 16. German immigrants founded the county and named it for Texas Ranger, Richard Addison Gillespie. Prince Frederick of Prussia is the namesake for Fredericksburg. The county is primarily hills and ravines.
Gillespie County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners. One District Court Judge serves Gillespie and Kerr counties and One County Court Judge serves Gillespie County. The county is located in the Hill Country northwest of San Antonio, Texas, west of Austin, Texas, and southeast of San Angelo, Texas. The county center is 4.3 miles Northwest of Fredericksburg. The county is surrounded clockwise by Llano, Blanco, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, and Mason counties.
The area of the county is 1061 square miles. It is 67 out of 254 in the state. It ranks 100 out of 254 in population in the state. It has a density of 23.41 persons per square mile making it 118 out of 254 in the state. Gillespie County has 42.4% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 10 cuts the extreme southwest corner entering from and exiting into Kerr County. United States Highway 87 crosses north to south, Mason County to Kendall County. United States Highway 290 enters from the east, Blanco County, and exits to the west, Kimble County. Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th President, was born in this county. Fredericksburg is in the southern half of this rectangular county. Fredericksburg is the county seat and the largest city since it is the only incorporated city. It is 42.4% of the county population. The county is pronounced GIL-LES-PEE. This county is in the Fredericksburg Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Fredericksburg
