Welcome to Hays County, TXGenWeb!

Hays was created from Travis County in 1848, which was taken from Bastrop in 1840. So, before 1848, check in Travis or Bastrop for your research. The county is named for Captain John Coffee Hays of the Texas Rangers and San Marcos, on the southeast county line, is the county seat. Orginally mostly a college town, Hays has more than doubled its population within the last 20 years with a huge influx of Californians. The Southwest Texas State Normal School was created in San Marcos in 1899 and it evolved into Southwest Texas State University and then joined with Texas State University. Hays County is also known for the Edwards Aquifer - underlying the eastern area, where San Marcos Springs, the second largest in Texas, delivers about 160 cubic feet of water per second. (Comal Springs in New Braunfels (about 20 miles southwest) is the largest.)

Hays County Courthouse

712 S. Stagecoach Trail
San Marcos, Texas 78666
512-393-7779

Neighboring Counties

Blanco Travis Hays Comal Caldwell Guadalupe

Other Texas Counties

Communities, Past & Present

(g) means ghost town
several are in multiple counties *
Austin *
Bear Creek
Belterra
Best (Yell)
Buda
Cannonville (g)
Centerpoint (g)
Driftwood
Dripping Springs
Elm Grove (g)
Goforth (g)
Good (Yell)
Hays
Hays City (g)
Hemphill (g)
Henly *
Kyle
Live Oak (g)
Mountain City
Niederwald *
Salem (g)
San Marcos (s) *
Science Hall
Stringtown
Uhland *
West Point (Yell)
Wimberley
Woodcreek
Yell