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Hood County embraces 425 square miles of the north central plains of Texas. In 2000, the population was 41,100. Its seat is Granbury, and the county is considered a part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Hood County is named for John Bell Hood, a Confederate lieutenant general and the commander of Hood's Texas Brigade.  The county is part of the Western Cross Timbers. Its elevations range from 600 to 1,000 feet. The eastern and west central part consists of undulating to hilly terrain surfaced by brown, red, or dark loam. The remaining soils are red or mottled loam and sand. The Brazos and Paluxy rivers are the main water sources in the county. The Brazos River flows in a winding pattern north to south; the Paluxy flows from the northwest to southeast across the southwest corner of the county. Lake Granbury, a man-made reservoir of 8,700 acres on the Brazos River, was completed in 1969. The vegetation features bluestems, Indian grass, and gramas, mesquite, oaks, and junipers. About 31 to 40 percent of the land is considered prime farmland. Hood County's primary resources include limestone, industrial sand, and oil and gas. The average annual precipitation is thirty inches, and the average temperature ranges from a low of 34° F in January to a high of 96° in July. The growing season averages 232 days. Before settlers from the East ventured onto the plains, the area was the home of the Comanches and, to a lesser extent, the Lipan Apaches and Kiowas. In the nineteenth century a band of Comanches known as the Penatekas or Honey-Eaters roamed the area west of the Cross Timbers, generally between the headwaters of the Colorado and Brazos rivers. Comanche Peak, the highest point in Hood County, was a Comanche meetingplace. The Lipan Apaches also roamed the area, and the town of Lipan in extreme northwestern Hood County was named after a group that once lived in the Kickapoo Valley. Settlers from the East began to arrive in the area ten or fifteen years before the Civil War.  One of the first, Charles E. Barnard,  set up a trading post and Barnard's Mill at a site now in Somervell County. George B. Erath, for whom an adjacent county is named, was one of the first to survey on the Brazos River (1846-50). Other settlers, mostly stock raisers and farmers, began to settle in the Brazos and Paluxy river valleys in 1854. The main concern facing these early settlers was the frequent raids by the Comanches. Indian horse-stealing raids into the Paluxy and Squaw Creek country occurred all during the Civil War and until 1872, when a party of Indians stole horses from a section of land close to Cresson, in northeast Hood County. Hood County was formed in November 1866 by an act of the Eleventh Texas Legislature. The area had been within the Municipality of San Felipe de Austin as early as 1823 and the Municipality of Viesca in 1834. After Texas became a republic, the area now known as Hood County had, at one time or another, been part of Robertson, Navarro, McLennan, Johnson, and Erath counties. The county was named after Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood of the Confederate Army. The county seat was to be named in honor of Confederate general Hiram Bronson Granbury. Location of the new county seat was a controversial issue. Residents in the southern section of the county favored the center of the county, as stated in the law. The other choice was a parcel of land donated by influential county leaders Thomas Lambert and J. F. and J. Nutt. The commission established to designate the county seat, citing a poor water supply at the center of the county, voted in favor of the donated land. The controversy surrounding the site of Granbury eventually caused the residents of the southern section of the county to petition for a new county. As a result, in 1875, Somervell County was established by an act of the Texas legislature.In that same year a fire destroyed the courthouse in Granbury.  From the first days of organized government Hood County has voted Democratic at the local and state level. Immediately after the Civil War the county was overwhelmingly Democratic, owing mainly to the predominantly white population. In 1870 whites made up 96 percent of the population. The highest total of blacks in Hood County was 241 in 1900, or only 3 percent of the population. The last three decades of the nineteenth century saw a steady increase in the population, and in 1910 the total was just over 10,000. The number of farms also reached its zenith (1,786) in 1910. The primary crops were cotton, corn, and oats. Numbers of livestock also reached a peak between 1900 and 1910. In the latter year there were more than 22,500 cattle in Hood County. Residents were able to send their produce and livestock to market on the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, which had been completed in 1887. By the turn of the century Hood County had several towns: Granbury, Acton, Tolar, Lipan, and Cresson. The education system in the county and towns was well established. During the school year 1882-83, there were forty-six male and four female teachers, who earned an average of $1,094 a year. After the 1920s many of the smaller schools were consolidated, especially as transportation improved. On the level of higher education,  Add-Ran College was established in 1873 and in 1890 donated to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The college, renamed Add-Ran Christian University, was moved to Waco in 1896 and in 1910 to Fort Worth, where it became Texas Christian University. Thorp Spring Christian College was established in 1910 by members of the Church of Christ. It eventually closed in 1930 and moved to Terrell, where it became Texas Christian College. After 1910 Hood County's population fell to 8,759 in 1920, to 6,779 in 1930, and to its twentieth-century low of 5,287 in 1950. The number of farms fell by almost a third between 1910 and 1920 to 1,234, then dropped more gradually to 830 in 1950. The number of cattle increased, however, to more than 25,000 in 1950 after dropping as low as 11,000 in 1920. From 1960 to 1980 the population increased threefold, from 5,443 to 17,714. Between 1970 and 1980 Hood County ranked sixth among all United States counties in the category of highest growth rate. One of the main reasons for the sudden increase was the completion in 1969 of Lake Granbury, which turned the county into a popular recreation and resort center as well as a retirement community. The primary area of economic growth was in the retail sector. In 1970 the county had 192 retail establishments, and in 1980, 777. Other areas of substantial growth between 1970 and 1980 included: construction, 836 percent; financial and real estate, 394 percent; and services, 430 percent. Manufacturing establishments, never of major economic importance in the county, numbered eleven in 1977, when products valued at $3.5 million were produced. The influx of people into Hood County between 1970 and 1980 had a tremendous impact on the area's educational levels. In 1950 just under 27 percent of residents over twenty-five had a high school or college education, and in 1970, 38 percent had finished high school. Over the next ten years the number soared to 7,128 or 62 percent. In 1982, 84 percent of the land in Hood County was used for farming and ranching. Pecans were grown on 5,000 acres, making Hood County a leader in pecan production. Other principal crops included hay, wheat, oats, and peanuts, and the primary livestock was cattle and milk cows. Commerce also continued its growth. In 1986 the retail industry consisted of 1,600 businesses in addition to 625 eating and drinking establishments. The restoration of downtown Granbury increased tourism and retail sales, and by 1990 the county's population had grown to 28,981. The voters of Hood County favored the Democratic candidate in virtually every presidential election from 1876 through 1968. The only exceptions occurred in 1876, when Republican Ulysses S.Grant tied Democrat Horace Greeley, and in 1928, when 57 percent voted for the Republican candidate, Herbert Hoover, who faced a Catholic opponent, Al Smith. After 1972, when Republican Richard Nixon carried the county over Democrat Hubert Humphrey, the area began to trend Republican. Though Democrat Jimmy Carter carried the county in 1976, the area went Republican in every other presidential election from 1972 through 2004. The census counted 41,100 people living in Hood County in 2000. About 91 percent were Anglo and 7 percent were Hispanics; blacks and other minorities made up less than 2 percent of the population. Almost 84 percent of the residents age twenty-five and older had completed four years of high school, and more than 20 percent had college degrees. In the early twenty-first century tourism and the Comanche Peak nuclear plant were key elements of the local economy; many residents commuted to work in Fort Worth. In 2002 the county had 935 farms and ranches covering 202,131 acres, 55 percent of which were devoted to pasture, 38 percent to crops, and 14 percent to woodlands. In that year farmers and ranchers in the area earned $21,729,000; livestock sales accounted for $17,606,000 of the total. Beef cattle, nursery crops, hay, turf, pecans, and peanuts were the chief agricultural products. The primary population centers include Granbury (2000 population, 5,718), the county seat; Pecan Plantation (3,544); Acton (1,129); Lipan (425); Tolar (504); Paluxy (76); and the relatively new community of Oak Trail Shores (2,475). Points of particular interest include the Granbury Opera House and the antique stores in the Hood County Courthouse Historic District. Granbury hosts a Civil War reenactment every October.

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Accommodation Hotel/Motel Americas Best Value Inn & Suites 1614 Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.americasbestvalueinn.com Reservations: 888.315.2378 t: 254.897.2111 f: 254.897.2232 Map Glen Rose Inn & Suites 300 SW Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 t: 254.897.2940 f: 254.897.8800 e: glenrosehotel@valornet.com Map top Attractions Granbury Live 114 N. Crockett St., Granbury, TX 76048 www.granburylive.com t: 817.573.0303 toll free: 800.989.8240 e: info@granburylive.com Map Lone Star Lanes 1815 W Lingleville Rd., Stephenville, TX 76401 www.nctxonlineguide.com/lsl.html t: 254.968.0440 e: lonestarlanes_info@yahoo.com Map  top Churches Stephenville First Assembly Hwy 377 and 67 (across from the Sheriff's dept) www.cornerstoneforchrist.org  t: 254.918.5433 f: 254.965.0882 e: firstassembly@stephenville.com Map   top Eateries Bakeries Tiger Corner / Sub Express / Barnard St. Bakery 1110 NE Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.tigercorner.biz t: 254.897.3324 f: 254.898.8406 e: info@tigercorner.biz Map Coffee Bar Texas Treasures Coffee Bar, Designer Clothing, Unique Jewelry, Home Decor 103 Elm St, Glen Rose TX 76043 t: 254.897.9888 e: tmpearce1@windstream.com Map Restaurants Big Cup Eatery 226 SW Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose, TX 76043 www.nctxonlineguide.com/bigcup.html t: 254.897.3841 c: 254.396.3119 Map Chachi's Mexican Restaurant 800 Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.nctxonlineguide.com/chachis.html  t: 254.897.7504 c: 254.396.0922 Map Granny's Restaurant Family owned and operated  109 Hereford St, Glen Rose, TX 76043 t: 254.897.9773 Map Texas Nutt House Restaurant 119 E. Bridge St, Granbury TX 76048 www.nutt-hotel.com t: 817.279.8688 Metro: 817.279.1207 Map top Florist Creations Flowers & Gifts Tuxedo Rentals, Invitations, Antiques too! 1001 NE Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.creationsflowers.net t: 254.897.1259 f: 254.897.9603 e: creationsflowers@windstream.net Map top Health Care Chiropractic Coble Chiropractic 507 SW Big Bend Trail, Ste. C, Glen Rose, TX 76043 t: 254.897.7447 f: 254.897.2099 e: coblechiropractic@valornet.com Map Dental Susan Baker, DDS 1104 Bluebonnet St, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.drsusanbaker.com t: 254.898.4646 f: 254.897.7321 e: sjbaker@windstream.net Map Pharmacies Best Value Medical Center Pharmacy Immunizations and Compounds too! 1100 Bluebonnet St, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.bestvaluepharmacies.com  t: 254.897.9917 f: 254.897.9919 Map top Home Services Plumbing Boyd's Plumbing Company Serving Somervell county and the surrounding areas http://boydplumbingco.net t: 254.897.3692 f: 254.897.1279 e: boydplumbingco@aol.com Well Drilling Pollock Well Drilling & Services Inc 2910 Hwy 67 N., Rainbow, TX 76077 t: 254.897.2350 f: 254.897.9613 e: pollockdrilling@valornet.com Map top Professional Services Business Consulting Powers Communication Serving all of North Central Texas www.nctxonlineguide.com/powerscom.html t: 254.436.0000 e: info@nctxonlineguide.com Computer Services John Cunyus - Mobile Computer Repair PO Box 482, Glen Rose, TX 76403 www.johncunyus.com/computerservice.html t: 254.897.4197 Toll Free: 888.896.6081 e: john@johncunyus.com Printing and Advertising Services Color Visual Concepts PO Box 250, Granbury, TX 76048 www.qualityprintingcheap.com Toll Free: 877.232.3624 f: 888.699.0392 top Ranch Services Well Drilling Pollock Well Drilling & Services Inc 2910 Hwy 67 N., Rainbow, TX 76077 t: 254.897.2350 f: 254.897.9613 e: pollockdrilling@valornet.com Map top Real Estate Agents Dinosaur Valley Reatly 1005 Big Bend Trail Ste. 4, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.dinosaurvalleyrealty.com t: 254.897.7158 f: 254.897.3602 c: 817.648.2122 e: scott@dinosaurvalleyrealty.com Map Home Inspectors Burgan Home Inspections Inspecting North / North Central Texas for over 20 years www.nctxonlineguide.com/burganinspections.html t: 254-898-0102 c: 817.379.9799 e: burganinspections@verizon.com Map top Retail Antique Texas Treasures Coffee Bar, Designer Clothing, Unique Jewelry, Home Decor 103 Elm St, Glen Rose TX 76043 t: 254.897.9888 e: tmpearce1@windstream.com Map Clothing Texas Treasures Coffee Bar, Designer Clothing, Unique Jewelry, Home Decor 103 Elm St, Glen Rose TX 76043 t: 254.897.9888 e: tmpearce1@windstream.com Map Jewelry Texas Treasures Coffee Bar, Designer Clothing, Unique Jewelry, Home Decor 103 Elm St, Glen Rose TX 76043 t: 254.897.9888 e: tmpearce1@windstream.com Map Specialty Creations Flowers & Gifts Tuxedo Rentals, Invitations, Antiques too! 1001 NE Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.creationsflowers.net t: 254.897.1259 f: 254.897.9603 e: creationsflowers@windstream.net Map Texas Treasures Coffee Bar, Designer Clothing, Unique Jewelry, Home Decor 103 Elm St, Glen Rose TX 76043 t: 254.897.9888 e: tmpearce1@windstream.com Map top Trash Service Lone Star Disposal 1201 NE Baranard St, Glen Rose TX 76043 t: 254.897.3406 f: 254.897.2871 e: lonestardisposal@valornet.com Map  top Utilities Southwest Water & Electric Energy Powers Serving all of North Central Texas and the World www.sweepcorp.com e: info@sweepcorp.com top Wedding Services Creations Flowers & Gifts Tuxedo Rentals, Invitations, Antiques too! 1001 NE Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.creationsflowers.net t: 254.897.1259 f: 254.897.9603 e: creationsflowers@windstream.net Map Tiger Corner / Sub Express / Barnard St. Bakery 1110 NE Big Bend Trail, Glen Rose TX 76043 www.tigercorner.biz t: 254.897.3324 f: 254.898.8406 e: info@tigercorner.biz Map top ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hood_County,_Texas http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/HH/hch17.html