San Antonio / South Central
Gonzales County, Texas
A local guide to the county: the stories that give it a shape, practical checks, and a few things worth knowing before they surprise you. Every note points to its source.
6 stories · 4 practical · 1 good to know
The practical part
Gonzales County offices and deadlines
Appraisal district & tax office →
The Comptroller's official directory for Gonzales County: who sets your value and who sends the bill.
Homestead exemption →
File Form 50-114 with the appraisal district. It is free. The regular deadline is April 30, and late filing is allowed for up to two years.
Protest your appraisal →
The usual deadline is May 15, or 30 days after your notice arrives, whichever is later.
Estimate a tax bill →
Model a bill from local rates, the homestead exemption, and the appraisal cap.
Start here
A little of what makes this place itself
Gonzales County · State Park
Palmetto State Park Mixes Dwarf Palmettos With CCC Waterworks
Palmetto State Park pairs an ecological crossroads of dwarf palmettos, oxbow water, and seasonal swamps with a CCC-built water system.
Gonzales County · River Paddle
The Come and Take It Trail Begins Below One Dam and Ends Before Another
This 11-mile Guadalupe River route for experienced paddlers passes the San Marcos confluence between a launch below H-5 Dam and a marked exit before another dam.
Gonzales County · Civil War Site
Fort Waul Was Planned for an Advance Up the Guadalupe
An 1863 Confederate earthwork near Pioneer Village was designed against a possible Federal advance and built in part by enslaved laborers.
All 11 local notes
The full county shelf is mixed so stories and useful checks travel together. Use the filters when you need one kind.
Showing all 11 notes.
- Stories & local character Outdoors Palmetto State Park Mixes Dwarf Palmettos With CCC Waterworks Palmetto State Park pairs an ecological crossroads of dwarf palmettos, oxbow water, and seasonal swamps with a CCC-built water system.
- Practical Outdoors Lake Gonzales Offers Good Bass and Crappie Fishing Twelve miles west of town on US 90A, the 696-acre Lake Gonzales has been holding bass, crappie, and catfish since the dam went up in 1931.
- Stories & local character Outdoors The Come and Take It Trail Begins Below One Dam and Ends Before Another This 11-mile Guadalupe River route for experienced paddlers passes the San Marcos confluence between a launch below H-5 Dam and a marked exit before another dam.
- Practical Home & Property A Groundwater District Oversees Water Wells in Gonzales County If you plan to drill a water well or buy rural land in Gonzales County, a local groundwater district has rules you need to know first.
- Good to know Home & Property The Guadalupe River Floods Hard in Gonzales County The Guadalupe River runs through the county and can flood far beyond its banks — check FEMA maps before buying land near the river.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Fort Waul Was Planned for an Advance Up the Guadalupe An 1863 Confederate earthwork near Pioneer Village was designed against a possible Federal advance and built in part by enslaved laborers.
- Practical Money & Taxes Apply for a Homestead Exemption to Lower Your Tax Bill Texas homeowners who live in their home can apply for a homestead exemption that reduces the value used to calculate property taxes.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Four Cupolas Ring the Gonzales Courthouse Tower After an 1893 fire, Gonzales County built a red-brick Romanesque courthouse with four domed cupolas gathered around a central tower.
- Practical Money & Taxes Two Offices Handle Your Property Tax in Gonzales County Gonzales County splits property tax work between two offices. One sets your value, the other sends the bill.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Gonzales Fired the First Shot of the Texas Revolution On October 2, 1835, colonists in Gonzales refused to hand over a cannon to Mexican troops, starting the Texas Revolution.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Railroads Recentered Waelder, Smiley, and Nixon Waelder drew people south from Hopkinsville, Smiley shifted its business district, and Nixon rose from ranch lots as tracks reorganized three county communities.
Nearby counties