Brief History of Coryell County and Gatesville Texas

Coryell County was originally part of Mexico. The county is located in central Texas just west of Waco. It's shape is basically square and has an area of about 1057 square miles, which equates to a little over 676,000 acres. After the Texas Revolution, Fort Gates was established in 1854 just east of where Gatesville, the country seat, is situated. The Army outpost was constructed to help protect the local settlers from Indian attacks or raids. However the Indian raids continued until nearly the 1870's. The county was named after a famous Texas Revolution war hero named James Coryell.

The earliest known inhabitants were dinosaurs which are believed to have roamed the area about 80-110 million years ago. There are several sites around the area that have been studied and dinosaur tracks and remains have been found. Until the early 1800's, vast herds of Buffalo (Bison) moved through the area between summer and winter.

Later, the area became part of Mexico and was administered by the Viceroy of Mexico. In the late 1660's Lt. Governor Alonzo de Leon was dispatched to the area to repel any further settlements by the French along the coast. The county's largest river was named after him and is called Leon River.

Website Optimization & Redesign in Progress by

Website Marketing and Search Engine Optimization by Visual Lyrics Media Group

Los Angeles, Hollywood, Denver, Austin, Atlanta, Miami & even Pidcoke