Blanco, Texas is a town of somewhere between 1500 and 1700 people (waiting for the 2010 official census numbers). It sits on the Blanco River in the southern part of Blanco County. It is known for ranchers, farmers, musicians, artists, good food, and natural beauty. In the Central Texas Hill Country area it is probably best known for the Old Blanco County Courthouse (pictured in the town square scene at left), and the fact that in 1890, just four years after it was built, the Blanco County seat was stolen by the Johnson family and moved to Johnson City. They used the feeble excuse that state law provides that a county seat must be within a day's ride of anywhere in the county, causing the county the enormous expense of building a second courthouse. Sometimes the good guys don't win (for a while), but the planning and plotting continues, to right the wrong caused by the evil forces of the north county. Live in fear...
In the years since the theftof the county seat, the old courthouse building has housed the local high school, a hospital (1937-61 -- the birthplace of quite a few Blanco citizens), city offices, and numerous businesses. It was rededicated in 1998 by the Old Blanco County Courthouse Preservation Society, and currently houses a realtor, a law office, the local visitor center, and other businesses from time to time. The upstairs courtroom was the filming location of the courtroom scenes in the remaking of True Grit. More information can be found at historicblanco.org.
