Hood County, Texas

Hood County is located on the Edwards Plateau region of Texas surrounded by Parker County on the north, Johnson County on the east, Somervell County on the south, Erath County on the west and Palo Pinto County on the northwest. Granbury, the county seat, is forty-one miles southwest of Fort Worth on U.S. Highway 377.

Cities, Towns & Communities

History

Hood County was formed in November 1866 by an act of the Eleventh Texas Legislature. The area now known as Hood County had, at one time or another, been part of Robertson, Navarro, McLennan, Johnson, and Erath counties. The county was named after Lt. Gen.John Bell Hood of the Confederate Army. The county seat was to be named in honor of Confederate general Hiram Bronson Granbury. Location of the new county seat was a controversial issue. Residents in the southern section of the county favored the center of the county, as stated in the law. The other choice was a parcel of land donated by influential county leaders Thomas Lambert and J. F. and J. Nutt. The commission established to designate the county seat, citing a poor water supply at the center of the county, voted in favor of the donated land. The controversy surrounding the site of Granbury eventually caused the residents of the southern section of the county to petition for a new county. As a result, in 1875, Somervell County was established by an act of the Texas legislature. In that same year a fire destroyed the courthouse in Granbury.

Hood County History 1922. The first settlers went into what is now Hood County before the war, but until about 1870 were on the frontier line of North Texas counties and had to protect home and stock against the incursions of raiding Indians. Hood County’s area for about ten years after the first settlers came was included in Johnson County. The legislature on November 2, 1866, erected a separate county. named Hood in honor of General J. B. Hood. In 1875 the south part of the county was detached to form Somervell County. In the act of 1866 it was directed that the county seat, when selected, should be called Granbury. Besides Granbury one of the early centers of settlement was at Thorp Spring.

County Histories

History of Hood County, 1895 by Thomas T. Ewell

Hood County in Picture and Story, 1970, edited by C. L. Hightower

Resources

Hood County Government Website

Location

Granbury, TX 32° 26′ 31.4988″ N, 97° 47′ 39.1092″ W

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