Medina

Formed February 22, 1848 (76^th county)

Medina County (50,739), Hondo (8,290)

The 1892 limestone Italianate courthouse is located on a square in middle Hondo at 16^th and Avenue K.  United States Highway 90 is two blocks south of the site.  The building’s designers were Martin, Byrnes & Johnston.  The building was enlarged in 1940 and restored in 1988.  Two courthouses have been in the county since its formation on February 22, 1848.  Castroville had the courthouse dating from 1854.  The county was formed from Bexar County as the 76^th county.  The county was named for the Medina River which is named for Spanish engineer, Pedro Medina.  The county seat’s name is Spanish for “deep” referring to the river. 

Medina County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Medina, Real, and Uvalde counties and Two County Court Judges serve Medina County.  The county is in the south-central part of Texas just west of San Antonio, Texas.  The Medina River forms the northeast border of the county.  The county center is 12.7 miles Southeast of Hondo nearer Dunlay.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Bandera, Bexar, Atascosa, Frio, Zavala, and Uvalde counties. 

The area of the county is 1328 square miles.  It is 30 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 65 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 38.2 persons per square mile making it 93 out of 254 in the state.  Medina County has 36.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 35 comes in from Atascosa County, east, and exits into Frio County, south.  United States Highway 90 crosses east to west, Bexar County to Uvalde County.  A tall rectangle shaped county has Hondo located near the county center.  Hondo is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 16.3% of the county population.  The county is pronounced ME-DEEN-A.  The county seat is HON-DOE.  This county is in the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.

San Antonio