Fayette County, Texas

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Fayette County administrative offices are located at 246 West Colorado Street, La Grange, TX 78945; phone: 979-968-3251.

Beginnings [1]

The history of Fayette County begins with the arrival of the first white settlers under Stephen F. Austin, who settled on the rich lands of the Brazos and Colorado Rivers. It is doubtful, if before their arrival the foot of a white man ever crossed the boundaries of Fayette County. If it did, the record of a transitory stay of a white hunter or trader would be of no importance; it left no impression on the history of the county; the history begins with the arrival of the first white settlers. The names of the first men who settled in Fayette County were Buckner, Powell and Jessie Burnham. They settled on the banks of the Colorado River, 1822.

The first settlers came mostly from the Southern States, a great many of them from the states of Tennessee and Alabama. Very few of the descendants of these old families still remain now in Fayette County; most of them have sold their property and moved further West; since the Civil War a new class of people has taken possession of the county. Almost simultaneously with the first settlers from the United States there came a good sprinkling of Germans who settled in the county. Bohemian settlers came to the county in the early fifties.

Texas was at the time of the arrival of the first settlers in the year 1821 connected with the Mexican State Coahuila for government purposes. The country was divided into municipalities for the purpose of local self-government. The head officer of a municipality was called alcalde. Parts of Fayette County belonged to the municipality of Colorado (the present Colorado County), parts of it belonged to the municipality of Mina (the present Bastrop County.)

  1. F. Lotto, Fayette County, Her History and Her People, Sticker Steam Press, Schulenburg, TX, 1902.

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