Blanco County

Capt. James Hughes Callahan saw the Blanco River on his way to an Indian fight, came back in 1853 with his friend Eli Clemens Hinds, and in 1854 both men built homes on the river, the first White settlers in what became the county. That year Gen. John D. Pitts arrived, and with Callahan and others he chartered the Pittsburg Land Company and laid out Pittsburg. The company's petitions helped create the county, which first covered 1,043 square miles, and it gave 120 acres for the county seat. In 1860 the county had 1,218 people, ninety-eight of them enslaved.

What the plaque says

Blanco County Formed from Burnet, Hays, Gillespie and Comal counties. Created February 12, 1858, organized April 12, 1858. Named for the stream which traverses the region. County seat, Blanco City, 1858-1890; Johnson City, since.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park — steps away
  The Johnson City district of the national park: the Victorian house where Lyndon Johnson grew up, and the stone barns his grandfather built in the Johnson Settlement.
• Pedernales Falls State Park — 10 mi
  The Pedernales stepping down over layered limestone east of Johnson City, a river that can turn from a placid stream to a torrent in minutes.
• Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site — 13 mi
  A state park on the Pedernales opposite the LBJ Ranch, with a working Texas-German farm kept as it was around the First World War and the permit desk for the ranch tour.
• Luckenbach — 22 mi
  A store, saloon and dance hall on Grape Creek that a humorist bought in 1971, declared a free state of mind, and turned into a pilgrimage for Texas music.

More markers nearby

• 1894 Blanco County Jail — steps away
• James Polk Johnson Building — steps away
• Dr. James F. Barnwell — steps away
• Dr. James Odiorne — steps away