Robertson County

Robertson County, Texas

Robertson County, Texas

View of the Robertson County Courthouse in Franklin, Texas. Photograph by Larry D. Moore.
Robertson County, Texas

Robertson County, Texas

Map of Robertson County, Texas. Map Credit: Robert Plocheck.

Robertson County is ninety miles northeast of Austin in the Claypan area of east central Texas. The center of the county is at 31°00' north latitude and 96°30' west longitude, near the county seat of Franklin. The county is bounded on the north by Limestone and Leon counties, on the east by Brazos and Madison counties, on the south by Burleson County, and on the west by Milam and Falls counties. State Highway 6 crosses the county north to south, and U.S. Highway 79 runs from east to west. In addition, the Union Pacific Railroad follows Highway 79 across the county, and another branch of the Union Pacific (formerly the Southern Pacific) parallels State Highway 6. These two lines intersect at Hearne,and yet another branch of the Union Pacific runs along the western boundary of the county. Robertson County covers 854 square miles of flat to gently rolling terrain, with elevations ranging from 250 to 500 feet. The county is bounded by the Brazos River in the west, the Navasota River in the east, and the Old San Antonio Road in the south. The region is characterized by rich river bottoms, upland prairies, and timberland that supports post oak, black jack oak, cottonwood, elm, pecan, and mesquite trees. Drainage flows in two directions; from a ridge near mid-county, creeks run toward either the Brazos or the Navasota rivers. The Brazos Bottom, located between the Brazos and Little Brazos River, contains 150,000 acres of fertile delta land. Along the Trinity River are undulating to rolling soils with very dark, loamy surfaces over mottled, cracking, clayey subsoils. Most of the remainder of the county has level to undulating soils with light colored, loamy or sandy surfaces over clayey or loamy subsoils. Between 1 and 10 percent of the county land is considered prime farmland. Natural resources include lignite coal and oil. Wildlife in the county includes squirrels, various species of bats and skunks, and small herbivores such as gophers, mice, rabbits, and armadillos, as well as raccoons, white-tailed deer, opossums, bobcats, coyotes, and red and grey foxes. Frogs, toads, and numerous snake species, including the poisonous copperhead, cottonmouth, coral snake, and rattlesnake are found. A wide variety of birds-mockingbirds, cardinals, doves, quail, and bluejays, to name a few-are also native to the area. The climate is subtropical humid, with warm summers and mild winters. The average annual relative humidity is 83 percent at 6 A. M., and the average rainfall is thirty-eight inches. The average annual temperature is 68° F. Temperatures in January range from an average low of 38° to an average high of 59° F and in July range from 73° to 96° F. The growing season averages 265 days per year, with the last freeze in early March and the first freeze in early December.

The area which now comprises Robertson County has long been the site of human habitation. Numerous artifacts from the Paleo-Indian (10,000–6,000 B.C.) and Archaic (6,000–200 B.C.) cultures have been found in the area, suggesting that it has been continuously occupied for more than 10,000 years. When the first Europeans arrived in the region it was dominated by Tawakoni, Tonkawa, and Waco Indians. Occasionally, Comanches, Kiowas, and Lipan-Apaches made forays into the area, hunting buffalo on the open upland prairies and raiding enemy Indian villages. Large buffalo herds grazed upon the open prairies between the Trinity and Brazos rivers, attracting these nomadic tribes of the Great Plains. The first European to set foot on the area of future Robertson County was probably Domingo Terán de los Ríos, who passed through the region on his way to Northeast Texas in 1690. In 1716 Domingo Ramón traversed the area as he traveled across Texas to found Spanish missions in East Texas. Although occasional groups of priests or soldiers stopped in the area on their trek to resupply the missions of East Texas, no permanent settlements were made during the Spanish period. Following the Mexican War of Independence Anglo-American interest in the area grew. In 1822 a group of buffalo hunters camped at the Brazos crossing of the Old San Antonio Road, and in 1823 six families from Kentucky built a temporary settlement at the mouth of the Little River. The same year Sterling C. Robertson, his cousin Felix Robertson, and several other Tennesseeans representing the Texas Association of Nashville explored the area with the view of eventually colonizing it. On April 15, 1825, Robert Leftwich, acting as agent for the Texas Association, received a contract from the Mexican government to settle 800 families in an area bounded on the south by the Old San Antonio Road, on the north by the Comanche Trace, on the east by the Navasota River, and on the west by the watershed separating the Brazos and Colorado rivers. Leftwich, however, received the grant in his own name and upon his return to Nashville was forced to resign and sell his interest to the investment group. In 1826 Felix Robertson, who served as president of the group, led a party of thirty Tennesseeans to Texas, establishing a camp at the mouth of the Little Brazos. But attempts to colonize the area were stalled by the outbreak of the Fredonian Rebellion and by land claims made by squatters who had moved into the area between 1824 and 1826. In 1827 the Mexican government approved the transfer of Leftwich's grant to the Texas Association and substituted another member of the group, Hosea H. League, as empresario. Under the new contract the grant boundaries were expanded to include an area second in size only to Stephen F. Austin's League subsequently established an office at San Felipe de Austin and awaited the arrival of families recruited to settle in the colony but was implicated as an accomplice in a local murder and jailed. Sterling C. Robertson replaced League, officially assuming authority as the company's agent on October 10, 1830. Robertson's attempts to bring settlers into the area, however, were hampered by the Law of April 6, 1830, which suspended the operation of the colony's contract for four years.

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James L. Hailey, Christopher Long | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Robertson County is classified as a County

Altitude Range

180 ft – 580 ft

Size

Land area does not include water surface area, whereas total area does

  • Land Area: 855.7 mi²
  • Total Area: 865.4 mi²

Temperature

January mean minimum: 38.8°F
July mean maximum: 94.9°F

Rainfall, 2019

39.5 inches

Population Count, 2019

17,074

Civilian Labor Count, 2019

7,405

Unemployment, 2019

6.9%

Property Values, 2019

$4,917,503,366 USD

Per-Capita Income, 2019

$40,394 USD

Retail Sales, 2019

$129,802,085 USD

Wages, 2019

$53,271,743 USD

Robertson County

Highlighted:
  • Robertson County
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Place Type Population (Year/Source) Currently Exists
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Town 40 (2009) Yes
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Town 110 (2009) Yes
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Town 45 (2009) Yes
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Town 854 (2021) Yes
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Town 962 (2021) Yes
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Town 350 (2009) Yes
Lake Yes
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Town 61 (2009) Yes
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Town 55 (2009) Yes
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Town 1,670 (2021) Yes
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Town 44 (2009) Yes
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Town 4,531 (2021) Yes
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Town 170 (2009) Yes
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Town 150 (2009) Yes
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Town 25 (2009) Yes
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Town 67 (2009) Yes
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Town 60 (2009) Yes
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Lake Yes
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Town 225 (2009) Yes
Town 80 (2009) Yes
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