Edwards County, Texas: History
The early inhabitants were Lipan Apache and Comanche.
1762 Looking for protection from Comanches, Lipan Apache chief El Gran Cabezón persuades Franciscans and the Spanish military to establish San Lorenzo de la Santa Cruz Mission on the Nueces River. The Mission was abandoned in 1771.
1825 Virginia born Haden Harrison Edwards joins forces with Stephen F. Austin and contracts with Coahuila y Tejas to move 800 families into east Texas. In 1826 Edwards announces the creation of the Republic of Fredonia near Nacogdoches, an early attempt to secede from Mexico. Stephen F. Austin joins forces with Mexico against Edwards. Haden Edwards flees in 1827 to Louisiana for his safety, returns to Texas, and spends the rest of his life in Nacogdoches.
1858 Edwards County is formed from Bexar County.
1871 Clint Smith, age 11, and brother Jeff Smith, age 9, are kidnapped by Indians near Rocksprings.
June 1, 1879, the last recorded Indian raid happens in the county when a woman and her two children are killed by Indians at the Half Moon Prairie.
1882 W.J. Greer settles a sheep camp at Rocksprings.
1883 Edwards County is officially organized and named for Haden Harrison Edwards.
1884 Francis Winan cattle and sheep ranch at Rocksprings.
1885 A.O. Burr sets up farming at Rocksprings.
1891 County seat becomes Rocksprings. The County Courthouse is built by architects Ben Davey and Bruno Schort in the Romanesque Revival Style.
1898 Rocksprings Telephone Company is formed.
1913 Edwards loses land in its eastern section to Real County.
1927 A tornado hits Rocksprings.
1940 Rocksprings calls itself the "Top-o-the-World" in mohair production, which peaks that year.
1946 Oil is discovered in the county.
1991 Kickapoo Cavern State Park, 6,400 acres (26 km2) in both Edwards and Kinney County opens to the public.
1992 Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area near Rockspring opens to the public. It is the home to the largest single-chambered cavern and third-deepest in the state.