Colorado County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,557. Its county seat is Columbus. It is named for the Colorado River of Texas. The county was founded in 1836 and organized the next year.
History
The territory that is now Colorado County has been continually inhabited by humans for at least 12,000 years. The Coco branch of the Karaknawa are said to have hunted in the area, while Tonkawa crossed the area from the south.
thumb|[[Confederate Memorial Museum, Colorado County, Texas]]
The first record of a European coming through the area that is now Colorado County was January 20, 1687, when René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, camped along Skull Creek. The party located an Indian village and named it Hebemes. The fourth expedition of Alonso De León may have crossed into the area while looking for Fort St. Louis in 1689.
The area was settled by Anglo colonists who were part of Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred starting in 1821. Some families settled near Beeson's Ford, a few miles south of Columbus' present day location. The area was active during the days of the Texas Revolution.
The county was one of the original Republic of Texas counties when it formed in 1836.
Many European settlers, particularly Germans, as well as Moravians and Bohemians from what became Czechoslovakia, began to settle in the county after the Civil War, although Germans had settled in the area as early as 1830.
Major highways
- 20px Interstate 10
- 20px U.S. Highway 90
- 20px<br>20px U.S. Highway 90 Alternate
- 20px State Highway 71
Adjacent counties
- Austin County (northeast)
- Wharton County (southeast)
- Jackson County (south)
- Lavaca County (southwest)
- Fayette County (northwest)
National protected area
- Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge