Hood

Formed January 1, 1866 (155^th county)

Hood County (61,597), Granbury (10,955)                

The historic 1890 Second Empire courthouse of Hood County sits on the square at Houston and Bridge streets (United States Highway 377 Business) in downtown Granbury.  Wesley C. Dodson provided the designs for this limestone facility.  The building was restored in 2000 and 2011.  A Justice Center was added in 2006.  The county was formed in January 1, 1866 as the 155^th county with Granbury serving as the county seats since that time.  Three courthouses have been sited in Granbury.  The county was formed from parts of Johnson and Erath counties.  Hood is named for John B. Hood who was a general in the Confederate Army.  Granbury gets its name from a local settler, Hiram B. Granbury. 

Hood County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge and Two County Court Judges serve Hood County.  The county is located in north central Texas to the southwest of the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas Metroplex.  The county center is 2.2 miles West-Southwest of Granbury.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Parker, Johnson, Somervell, Erath, and Palo Pinto counties. 

The area of the county is 422 square miles.  It is 241 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 56 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 146.0 persons per square mile making it 38 out of 254 in the state.  Hood County has 26.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 377 goes northeast to southwest, Johnson County to Erath County.  The county is a 45-degree skewed on the south, west, and east sides and square on the north side.  The Brazos River flows right through the center of the county.  Granbury is close to the county center.  Granbury is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 17.8% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced GRAN-BARE-REE.  This county is in the Granbury Micropolitan Statistical Area.