Llano

Formed January 1, 1856 (111^th county)

Llano County (21,243), Llano (3,324), Horseshoe Bend (4,258)

The definition of the phrase county courthouse would include a picture of the 1892 Romanesque Revival structure in Llano.  Built of brown sandstone and granite, it is located on the square at Main and Ford streets.  Ford Street is Texas State Highway 16 through the city.  Architects A. O. Watson and Jacob Lamour gave the original design to the structure.  The building was restored in 2002.  The county was organized on January 1, 1856 with four (1859, 1880, 1885 and 1892) courthouses, all in the City of Llano, used to serve the county.  The county was created from pieces of Bexar and Gillespie counties as the 111^th county.  Llano County and City were named for the Llano River.  Llano means “prairie or rolling plain” in Spanish. 

Llano County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  Two District Court Judges serve Llano, Blanco, Burnet, and San Saba counties and One County Court Judge serves Llano County.  The county is located in the center of the state.  Austin, Texas is southeast and San Antonio, Texas is straight south.  The Llano River crosses the county from west to east.  The county center is 4.7 miles South of Llano.  The county is surrounded clockwise by San Saba, Burnet, Blanco, Gillespie, and Mason counties. 

The area of the county is 935 square miles.  It is 93 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 112 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 22.7 persons per square mile making it 122 out of 254 in the state.  Llano County has 35.3% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county is basically square with Llano almost exactly in the center.  Llano is the county seat and Horseshoe Bend is the largest city.  Llano is 15.7% of the county population and Horseshoe Bend is 20.0% of the county population.  The county and county seat are pronounced LAN-O.