Formed February 26, 1876 (234th county)
Sutton County (4,128), Sonora (3,027)
The unique Second Empire courthouse, on the square at Poplar and Water, was built in 1891. The site is two blocks northwest of United States Highway 277 as it winds through Sonora. Interstate Highway 10 bypasses the heart of the city to the north. An Annex was built in 1984 and the courthouse was renovated in 2001. This is the only courthouse for the county since its February 26, 1876 organizing. Oscar Ruffini designed the limestone and stone courthouse. Crockett County gave the land for this county as the 234th county. Sutton County is named for John S. Sutton, a Texas Ranger and soldier. Sonora gets its name from local caves.
Sutton County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners. One District Court Judge serves Sutton, Crockett, Pecos, Reagan, and Upton counties and One County Court Judge serves Sutton County. The county is located in southwest Texas in the high desert between San Angelo, Texas, northeast, San Antonio, Texas, southeast, and Odessa, Texas, northwest. The North Fork of the Llano River originates in the county. The county center is 8.4 miles East-Southeast of Sonora. The county is surrounded clockwise by Schleicher, Menard, Kimble, Edwards, Val Verde, and Crockett counties.
The area of the county is 1454 square miles. It is 28 out of 254 in the state. It ranks 209 out of 254 in population in the state. It has a density of 2.84 persons per square mile making it 223 out of 254 in the state. Sutton County has 73.3% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 10 comes from Kimble County on the east and goes into Crockett County on the west. United States Highway 277 goes from Schleicher County, on the north, into Edwards County, on the south. The county is a rectangle with Sonora in the western half. Sonora is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 73.3% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced SO-NOE-RA.
Sonora
