Brazoria County, Texas is located on the Gulf Coast within the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area. Brazoria County resembles both rural and suburban life, as it is part of the Greater Houston area.

Brazoria County takes its name from the Brazos River. The county is bordered by Matagorda, Fort Bend, Harris and Galveston counties and covers slightly more than 1,400 square miles. Brazoria County is rich in history, both as the Republic of Texas and as a member of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Today the county is best known as the home of Ron Paul, senator and US presidential candidate in the 2008 and 2012 races.

The population of the county is 313,166, as of the 2010 census. Brazoria’s county seat is Angleton. The county incorporates what was once Velasco, Texas, which was the first capital of the Republic of Texas.

After his capture at the battle of San Jacinto in 1836, Santa Anna and members of his army were taken to Velasco; here he signed the Treaties of Velasco with the Republic of Texas. The establishment of Fort Bend County in 1837 and of Galveston County in 1838 drew the present county boundaries.

Between 1849 and 1859 plantation life in Brazoria County flourished, and the county became the wealthiest in Texas. Some of the state’s largest and most prosperous sugar and cotton plantations grew up along the rivers and deeper creeks.

Residents of Brazoria County cast more than 99 percent of their votes for secession. Though the county suffered little physical damage in the war, loss of profit from cotton crops in 1864 brought increasing hardship. Some plantations were destroyed. Others eventually became part of the Ramsey, Retrieve, Clemens, and Darrington state prison farms.

More recently, the county’s economy is dominated by the petrochemical industry and mineral resources including oil, gas, sulfur, salt, lime, sand, and gravel. The median income for a household in the county was $48,632.

Two major national wildlife refuges are located in Brazoria County, the Brazoria and San Bernard.

The county sponsors a San Jacinto Festival at West Columbia and the Spring Fling at Clute in April; a Mexican Fiesta at Pearland and Youth Rodeo and Frontier Days are celebrated at Alvin in May.