San Jacinto

Formed June 9, 1870 (158^th county)

San Jacinto County (26,384), Coldspring (853), Shepherd (2,319)

The Classical Revival courthouse in Coldspring was built in 1917.  It is at the corner of Church and Byrd streets in the small city.  Texas State Highway 150 turns at this intersection which can be described as a square.  The courthouse is made of tan brick and concrete.  S. Roy E. Lane and Wilkes A. Dowdy provided the designs.  An Annex was added in 1991.  Coldspring has been the only county seat since the June 9, 1870 county organization; however, it has been called Coonskin, Fireman’s Hill, Cold Spring, and finally Coldspring.  There was an 1871 courthouse prior to the current courthouse.  The county was taken from parts of Liberty, Montgomery, Polk, and Walker counties as the 158^th county.  San Jacinto County’s name is Spanish for “Saint Hyacinth.”  The county seat name comes from a nearby spring. 

San Jacinto County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  Two District Court Judge serves San Jacinto, Polk, and Trinity counties and One County Court Judge serves San Jacinto County.  The county is located in the south part of the East Texas pines also called the Big Thicket.  Houston, Texas is south of the county.  The Trinity River is the north and east borders of the county.  The San Jacinto River crosses the county from north to south.  The county center is in Coldspring 1.1 miles North-Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Trinity, Polk, Liberty, Montgomery, and Walker counties. 

The area of the county is 628 square miles.  It is 232 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 98 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 42.01 persons per square mile making it 82 out of 254 in the state.  San Jacinto County has 14.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 59 crosses the southeast corner from Polk County, east, to Liberty County, south.  United States Highway 190 enters from Polk County on the east and exits into Walker County on the west.  The county is shaped like a bowl skewed 45-degrees.  Coldspring is near the center in the county.  Shepherd is located in the southeast corner of the county.  Coldspring is the county seat and Shepherd is the largest city.  Coldspring is 3.2% of the county population while Shepherd is 8.8% of the county population.  The county is pronounced SAN JA-SIN-TOE.  This county is in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area.