200px|right|thumb|Veterans Memorial at Real County courthouse

200px|right|thumb|The Real County Historical Museum is located in a rustic building in Leakey.

200px|right|thumb|Open gate to a grassy field in Real County

Real County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,758. The county seat is Leakey. The county is named for Julius Real (1860–1944), a former member of the Texas State Senate. The Alto Frio Baptist Encampment is located in an isolated area of Real County southeast of Leakey.

History

  • 1762–1771: 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
  • 1856: John and Nancy Leakey settle in Frio Canyon.
  • 1857: The original Camp Wood is established on the Nueces River near the site of the former San Lorenzo mission.
  • 1864: Lipan Apaches attack the family of George Schwander in the abandoned ruins of the San Lorenzo mission.
  • 1868: Theophilus Watkins, F. Smith and Newman Patterson construct a gravity flow irrigation canal from the Frio River that operates for a century.
  • 1879: Indians attack and kill Jennie Coalson, wife of Nic Coalson, and two children at Half Moon Prairie.
  • 1881: Lipan Apaches strike the McLauren home at Buzzard's Roost in the Frio Canyon. Last Indian raid in southwest Texas.
  • 1910: Crop farming declines in the county, livestock ranching gains prominence, in particular angora goats. the Texas state legislature establishes Real County from parts of Edwards, Bandera, and Kerr counties. Leakey is the county seat.
  • 1924: Charles A. Lindbergh lands in Real County.
  • 1948: Farm to Market Road 337 is completed.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.1%) is water.

Major highways

  • 20px U.S. Highway 83
  • 20px State Highway 41
  • 20px State Highway 55
  • 20px Ranch to Market Road 337

Adjacent counties

  • Edwards County (west)
  • Kerr County (northeast)
  • Bandera County (east)
  • Uvalde County (south)

Demographics