County Seat: San Angelo * County Population: 110,224 (2010 Census)
The Tom Green County Courthouse was built in 1928 in a Classical Revival style as designed by architect Anton Korn. The county capitol, fashioned of brick and cast stone, cost approximately $240,000 to raise. The inscription on the plaque placed by the National Register of Historic Places reads, “To the memory of the heroic pioneers of West Texas, this building is dedicated. Men’s homage and their love shall never cease to follow them.”
Up until 1846, the land that would later become Tom Green County was a part of the Bexar Land District, Republic of Texas. Private tracts were surveyed as early as 1847. The R.F. Tankersley family established a permanent home in 1864, and by 1874 there were five settlements including Bismarck Farm, a colony of 15 German immigrants.
Tom Green County was officially created in 1874 and named for heroic Gen. Thomas Green, a state official and gallant Texas soldier who fought in the Battle of San Jacinto and was killed in the Civil War. The original county land mass now encompasses 13 counties.
According to June Rayfield Welch, author of “The Texas Courthouse Revisited,” Commissioners Court was first conducted in a “$10-a-month picket structure.” The county’s first courthouse was eventually flooded by heavy rains that also destroyed most of the area homes and drowned 60 residents. According to Welch, survivors were offered lots in San Angelo, which replaced Ben Ficklin as the county seat.
The San Angelo Visitors Center is located on the banks of the Concho River right in the center of downtown. The center’s unusual architecture features a copper roof and native limestone walls, a character element of many of the city’s historic and contemporary buildings.
Among the many unique structures found in the county seat of San Angelo is Fort Concho, home of the famous Buffalo Soldiers and one of the best-preserved forts in the nation. Fort Concho was founded in 1867 as a frontier outpost to protect early West Texas settlers. By March 1, 1870, fort buildings were, in order of their construction, a commissary and quartermaster storehouse, hospital, five officers’ quarters, a magazine, and two barracks, all built of limestone. Living history demonstrations are periodically held at the fort, with soldiers in authentic uniforms conducting exercises on the parade grounds.
Tying the Fort Concho area to downtown is the El Paseo de Santa Angela. The El Paseo is an area of paved walkways that leads from Fort Concho past the depot area, the beautiful and architecturally significant San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, and the riverside amphitheater. The Celebration Bridge leads into downtown and Concho Avenue, which was the first street in San Angelo. The avenue shares simple charm with delightful country collectibles and memorabilia along with Miss Hattie’s bordello, known as the “Best Little Museum in Texas.” The Texas Rangers closed Miss Hattie’s in the 1940s.
Tom Green County is home to Angelo State University, one of the finest small universities in the nation. The county also boasts several parks, rivers, and three lakes that offer the entire range of water sports and fishing.
Goodfellow Air Force Base, established in 1941, reconnected San Angelo with its long history of military support. Tom Green County has long enjoyed a robust relationship with Goodfellow Air Force Base built on a foundation of shared goals and mutual economic, social, and cultural advancement. Goodfellow Air Force Base is the largest employer in Tom Green County with over 4,000 employees.