Gonzales County (Tex.)

Present-day Gonzales County was first settled by Green C. DeWitt’s colony in 1825. The colony sent delegates to the conventions of 1832 and 1833 as well as the Consultation of 1835, which the Mexican government deemed treasonable. Troops were sent to Gonzales, which became the site of the first armed encounter in the Texas revolution on October 2, 1835. After independence, Gonzales County, with a county seat at Gonzales, organized in 1837 as one of the original counties in the Republic of Texas. Following annexation to the United States, portions of the county were split into eight additional counties. The county population increased from 1,492 in 1850 to over 28,000 in the early 1900s. During the Great Depression and World War II, the population decreased, and continued to fall until 1970 with only 16,375 residents. By 1990, the populace reached 17,205.

Source:

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. “Gonzales County,” http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/GG/hcg7.html (accessed October 6, 2010).