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thumb|right|200px|[[Texas Hill Country in Edwards County south of Rocksprings]]

thumb|200px|right|Lone wooden [[windmill in eastern Edwards County]]

Edwards County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,422. The county seat is Rocksprings. The county was created in 1858 and organized in 1883. It is named for Haden Edwards, an early settler of Nacogdoches, Texas. The Edwards Aquifer and Edwards Plateau are named after the county by reason of their locations.

History

  • The early inhabitants were Lipan Apache and Comanche.
  • 1762 Looking for protection from Comanches, Lipan Apache chief El Gran Cabezón persuades Franciscans and the Spanish military to establish San Lorenzo de la Santa Cruz Mission on the Nueces River. The Mission was abandoned in 1771.
  • 1825 Virginia born Haden Harrison Edwards joins forces with Stephen F. Austin and contracts with Coahuila y Tejas to move 800 families into east Texas. In 1826 Edwards announces the creation of the Republic of Fredonia near Nacogdoches, an early attempt to secede from Mexico. Stephen F. Austin joins forces with Mexico against Edwards. Haden Edwards flees in 1827 to Louisiana for his safety, returns to Texas, and spends the rest of his life in Nacogdoches.
  • 1858 Edwards County is formed from Bexar County.
  • June 1, 1879, the last recorded Indian raid happens in the county when a woman and her two children are killed by Indians at the Half Moon Prairie.
  • 1882 W.J. Greer settles a sheep camp at Rocksprings.
  • 1883 Edwards County is officially organized and named for Haden Harrison Edwards.
  • 1884 Francis Winan cattle and sheep ranch at Rocksprings.
  • 1898 Rocksprings Telephone Company is formed.
  • 1913 Edwards loses land in its eastern section to Real County.
  • 1940 Rocksprings calls itself the "Top-o-the-World" in mohair production, which peaks that year.
  • 1992 Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area near Rockspring opens to the public. It is the home to the largest single-chambered cavern and third-deepest in the state.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau the county has a total area of , of which are land and (0.09%) are covered by water.

Major highways

  • 25px U.S. Highway 277
  • 25px U.S. Highway 377
  • 20px State Highway 41
  • 20px State Highway 55

Adjacent counties

  • Sutton County (north)
  • Kimble County (northeast)
  • Kerr County (east)
  • Real County (southeast)
  • Uvalde County (southeast)
  • Kinney County (south)
  • Val Verde County (west)

Demographics