Atascosa County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Way back in 1722, El Camino Real, The King's Highway, was already a well-worn road cutting through this part of Texas, running from the Rio Grande all the way up to San Antonio. Already well established, mind you.

People had been pushing through here long enough to know exactly what kind of ground they were dealing with. And the ground had a reputation. The Spanish had a word for it: Atascosa.

Boggy. The kind of terrain that grabs a wheel, swallows a hoof, and tests a traveler's patience down to the last nerve. That word stuck to the region like mud sticks to a boot.

When Atascosa County was created in 1856, carved out of land that had belonged to Bexar County, it carried that name right along with it. Now, the first grant recorded in the area came from a man named Jose Antonio Navarro. His claim dated back to 1831, and when the county needed a seat of government, Navarro gave land for it in 1857.

They called that first county seat Navatasco. Didn't last long in that spot though. By 1858, the county seat had moved to Pleasanton.

Then in 1911, it moved again, this time to Jourdanton, where it sits today. Three county seats in not all that many decades. Some ground just keeps you movin'.

As for what this county produces, well, the list is a fine one: livestock, oil, gas, and strawberries. Boggy ground and all, Atascosa County found a way to be worth the trouble.

What the marker says

As early as 1722 El Camino Real (The King's Highway) from the Rio Grande to San Antonio was well established in this area. The Spanish word "Atascosa," denoting boggy ground that hindered travel, gave region its name. The county was created in 1856 from land formerly in Bexar County. Jose Antonio Navarro, whose 1831 claim was the first grant recorded in area, gave land in 1857 for first county seat, Navatasco. County seat moved to Pleasanton in 1858, to Jourdanton in 1911. Livestock, oil, gas and strawberries are well-known products of the county.