Hamilton County /

Hamilton County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. In 2000, its population was 8,229. Hamilton County is named for James Hamilton Jr., a former governor of South Carolina who gave financial aid to the Republic of Texas. The county seat is Hamilton. Indigenous peoples were the first inhabitants of the area. Later Indian tribes settled in the area, including Tawakoni, Tonkawa, Waco and Comanche. In 1821, shortly after Mexico claimed its independence from Spain, Anglo settlers from the North came to Texas, claiming Mexican citizenship. Following Texas's independence from Mexico (1836) and its annexation by the United States (1845), Robert Carter and family became the first permanent white settlers in the county in 1854. The next year, settlers James Rice, Henry Standefer, Frederic Bookerman, William Beauchamp, and Asa Langford formed a community that later becomes the town of Hamilton. Asa Langford began Langford's Cove, which later grows into present-day Evant. In 1856 the Sixth Texas Legislature formed Hamilton County, named after James Hamilton Jr., from parts of Comanche, Bosque, and Lampasas counties. In 1858, Hamilton was named the county seat. Despite