Williamson County, Texas | ||
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The Williamson County Courthouse after renovation in 2006–2007
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Location in the U.S. state of Texas |
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Texas's location in the U.S. |
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Founded | March 13, 1848 | |
Named for | Robert McAlpin Williamson | |
Seat | Georgetown | |
Largest city | Round Rock | |
Area | ||
• Total | 1,134 sq mi (2,937 km2) | |
• Land | 1,118 sq mi (2,896 km2) | |
• Water | 16 sq mi (41 km2), 1.4% | |
Population (est.) | ||
• (2016) | 545,412 | |
• Density | 378/sq mi (146/km²) | |
Congressional district | 31st | |
Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 | |
Website | wilco |
Municipal Population History | |||||||||
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# | Largest Cities in Williamson County | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 (estimate) |
1 | Round Rock | 1,438 | 1,878 | 2,811 | 11,812 | 30,923 | 61,136 | 99,887 | 115,997 |
2 | Cedar Park | 202 | 385 | 692 | 3,474 | 5,161 | 26,049 | 48,937 | 65,945 |
3 | Georgetown | 4,951 | 5,218 | 6,395 | 9,468 | 14,842 | 28,339 | 47,400 | 63,716 |
4 | Leander | - | - | - | 2,179 | 3,398 | 7,596 | 26,521 | 37,889 |
5 | Hutto | n/a | 400 | 545 | 659 | 630 | 1,250 | 14,698 | 22,722 |
6 | Taylor | 9,071 | 9,434 | 9,616 | 10,619 | 11,472 | 13,575 | 15,191 | 16,702 |
Williamson County total | 38,853 | 35,044 | 37,305 | 76,521 | 139,551 | 249,967 | 422,679 | 471,014 |
Williamson County (sometimes abbreviated as "Wilco") is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2016 census estimate, the population was 545,412. Its county seat is Georgetown. The county is named for Robert McAlpin Williamson (1804?–1859), a community leader and a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto.
Williamson County is part of the Austin-Round Rock, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was included with Austin in the Best Cities to Live in for 2009 by the Milken Institute It is on both the Edwards Plateau to the west, rocky terrain and hills, and Texas Blackland Prairies in the east, rich, fertile farming land. The two areas are roughly bisected by Interstate 35.
Much of Williamson County has been the site of human habitation for at least 11,200 years. The earliest known inhabitants of the area lived during the late (Ice Age), and are linked to the Clovis culture around 9,200 BC (11,200 years old) based on evidence found at Bell County's much-studied Gault Site. One of the most important discoveries in recent times is that of the ancient skeletal remains dubbed "The Leanderthal Lady" because of its age and proximity to Leander, Texas. It was discovered by accident by the Texas Department of Transportation workers while drilling core samples for a new highway. The site has been extensively studied for many years and samples from this site carbon date to the period at approximately 10,500 years ago (8,500 BC). Pre-historic and Archaic "open occupation" campsites are also found throughout the county along streams and other water sources including Brushy Creek in Round Rock and the San Gabriel River in Georgetown. Such evidence of Archaic Period inhabitants is often in the form of relics and flint tools recovered from burned rock middens. Many such sites were inundated when the San Gabriel River was dammed to create Lake Granger.