| Fredericksburg and the
surrounding rural areas grew quickly, and on December 15,
1847, 150 settlers petitioned the Texas legislature to
establish a new county, which they suggested be named either "Pierdenales"
or Germania. The legislature formally marked the new county
off from Bexar and Travis counties on February 23, 1848, named
it after Capt. Robert A. Gillespie, a hero of the recent
Mexican War, and made Fredericksburg the county seat.
Gillespie County originally included areas that today are
parts of Blanco, Burnet, Llano, and Mason counties. It
underwent the first of five boundary changes in 1858, when the
legislature formed Mason and Blanco counties, changed the
Llano County boundary and established the present northern and
eastern boundaries of Gillespie County. The last change came
in 1883, when the county's boundaries were redefined and its
present limits set. President
Lyndon Baines Johnson was
born in
Stonewall, in the eastern
part of the county. The
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical
Park, which includes much of the former president's
LBJ Ranch, is located just outside of Stonewall.
Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz was born in
a house that still stands on Main Street in Fredericksburg.
Nimitz, who grew up in Fredericksburg and in nearby
Kerrville, accepted an
appointment to the
United States Naval Academy,
rose to the rank of
Fleet Admiral and commanded
the Pacific War during
World War II. |