Williamson County, Texas

Location of Williamson County in Texas

Williamson County is a county in Central Texas. The county seat is Georgetown, Texas. The county population in 2020 was 609,017.^[1] The county is named after Robert McAlpin Williamson, a veteran in the Battle of San Jacinto and a previous community leader.

History

Damage from F-5 Jarrell tornado.

Williamson County held humans for at least 11,200 years.^[2] In recent times, a prehistoric skeleton was found in Williamson County. The name of the skeleton is Leanderthal Lady. The town of Leander is named after the skeleton. Leanderthal Lady was found after the Texas Department of Transportation found remnants while drilling core/dirt samples for a new highway.^[3]

Native Americans also lived in areas of Williamson County. The Tonkawa tribe lived in parts of the county. Other tribes lived in the area. These tribes included Kiowa, Yojuane, Tawakoni, and Mayeye Native Americans.

On September 1921, the remains of a hurricane moved over Williamson County. The rains fell over Thrall, Texas. The town received 39.7 inches of rain in 36 hours. The storm killed 87 near Taylor, Texas, and 93 in Williamson County. A total of 215 deaths were reported due to the rains. ^[4]

On 27 May 1997, Williamson county had a tornado outbreak. The county had several tornadoes during the day. An EF-5 tornado (rating determined on the Fujita Scale) struck Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 persons.^[5] An EF-3 tornado also struck Cedar Park, with one indirect death.

List of communities

Cedar Park Center in Cedar park, Texas.

Downtown Georgetown, Texas in July 2010.

The following is a list of communities in Williamson county. Some communities are part of other counties.

Austin (partly in Travis County)
Bartlett (partly in Bell County)
Brushy Creek
Cedar Park (partly in Travis County)
Coupland
Florence
Georgetown (county seat)
Granger
Hutto
Jarrell
Jollyville
Jonah
Leander (partly in Travis County)
Liberty Hill
Macedonia
Norman's Crossing
Round Rock (partly in Travis County)
Schwertner
Serenada
Taylor
Thorndale (partly in Milam County)
Thrall
Walburg
Waterloo
Weir

Williamson County, Texas Media

Confederate statue at Williamson County courthouse
A part of Courthouse Square in Georgetown
This Clovis point is from a period of habitation of about 11,200 years ago.
Williamson County Precinct Map – Image courtesy of the Williamson County Commissioners Court
Sun City Texas pool at one of several recreation centers
Cotton bolls ready for harvest
Williamson County flag – Image courtesy of the Williamson County Commissioner's Court
The original Chainsaw Massacre movie house was moved in 1993^[source?] and restored to become a restaurant at The Antlers Hotel in Kingsland