{"id":8106,"date":"2023-09-19T17:39:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T17:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=8106"},"modified":"2026-08-16T19:08:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T19:08:28","slug":"mason-county-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mason-county-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Mason County, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mason County is a county in Texas, United States, on the Edwards Plateau in the west-central part of the state. It had a population of 3,953 at the 2020 census and covers 929 square miles (2,410 km2) of land centred near 30\u00b043\u2032N 99\u00b013\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Mason is the county seat and its postal code is 76856. The county has one incorporated city and about a dozen small unincorporated communities, and it sits in the Central time zone.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Mason County<\/h2>\n<p>Mason County has one incorporated city \u2014 Mason, the seat \u2014 and a scatter of unincorporated crossroads communities across the Llano Uplift country. None of the unincorporated places have current census population figures reported separately; each is shown as a distinct place below rather than merged into the city total.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Mason<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>76856<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Art<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>76856<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Camp Air<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fredonia<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Grit<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Grossville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hedwigs Hill<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hilda<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Katemcy<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Koockville<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Loyal Valley<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pontotoc<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Streeter<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>76856 &mdash; Mason (also the mailing address for Art and most of the surrounding county)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The county&#8217;s smaller unincorporated communities generally share the Mason ZIP for mail purposes; this profile does not list separate ZIP assignments for them without a verified postal source.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Mason County sits on the Edwards Plateau where it meets the granite outcrops of the Llano Uplift, giving the county pink and grey granite exposures not found in most of Texas. The Llano River and its James River tributary cross the county, and ranchland dominates the terrain, dropping from limestone hill country in the west to the granite belt in the east. The county borders <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mcculloch-county\/\">McCulloch County<\/a> to the north, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/san-saba-county\/\">San Saba County<\/a> to the northeast, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/llano-county\/\">Llano County<\/a> to the east, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/gillespie-county\/\">Gillespie County<\/a> to the south, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/kimble-county\/\">Kimble County<\/a> to the southwest, and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/menard-county-texas\/\">Menard County<\/a> to the west.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Mason County recorded 3,953 residents at the 2020 census. Mason, the seat, is the county&#8217;s largest community by a wide margin, with Pontotoc and Katemcy the next-largest named crossroads. Texas&#8217;s median household income was $75,780 in the 2023 American Community Survey; Mason County, a sparsely populated ranching county, typically runs below that state figure. Population density is light, at roughly 4 people per square mile across the county&#8217;s 929 square miles of land.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Cattle and sheep ranching, hunting leases for white-tailed deer, and granite quarrying anchor the local economy. Mason County is best known statewide as the only place in Texas where the public can legally dig for topaz, the official Texas state gem, on fee-access private ranches around the town of Mason &mdash; a niche but well-established draw for rockhounds. Mason Municipal Airport and the county&#8217;s ranch-country tourism (hunting, rockhounding, and Hill Country day trips) round out the local economy alongside agriculture.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Mason County was organized on January 22, 1858, and named for Fort Mason, a U.S. Army post established in the area in 1851. Voters in the county opposed secession from the Union in the 1861 referendum. In the mid-1870s the county was the center of the Mason County War, also called the Hoodoo War, a violent feud between German immigrant ranchers and Anglo cattlemen over stock theft. The county&#8217;s 1909 courthouse, a longtime landmark on the Mason town square, was destroyed by arson in 2021.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Highway 87 and U.S. Highway 377 cross at Mason, with State Highway 29 running east-west through the county.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fredericksburg &mdash; about 38 miles southeast<\/li>\n<li>Llano &mdash; about 35 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Brady &mdash; about 30 miles north<\/li>\n<li>San Antonio &mdash; about 100 miles southeast<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nearest commercial air service is San Antonio International Airport, roughly 100 miles southeast of Mason.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Mason County, Texas?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is in the west-central part of Texas, on the Edwards Plateau where it meets the Llano Uplift&#8217;s granite country, roughly 100 miles northwest of San Antonio.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Mason County?<\/strong><br \/>\nMason County had 3,953 residents at the 2020 census.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Mason County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county covers 929 square miles (2,410 km2) of land, plus about 3.4 square miles (8.8 km2) of water.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Mason County?<\/strong><br \/>\nMason is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Mason County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe county has one incorporated city, Mason, and about a dozen unincorporated communities including Pontotoc, Katemcy, Loyal Valley, and Fredonia.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Mason County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Mason ZIP code, 76856, covers the county seat and serves most of the surrounding rural county by mail.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is Mason County known for topaz?<\/strong><br \/>\nSeveral private ranches near Mason allow fee-access digging for topaz, the Texas state gem, making the county the only widely known public-access topaz source in the state.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/texas\/\">Towns and villages in Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mason County is a county in Texas, United States, on the Edwards Plateau in the west-central part of the state. It had a population of 3,953 at the 2020 census and covers 929 square miles (2,410 km2) of land centred near 30\u00b043\u2032N 99\u00b013\u2032W. Mason is the county seat and its postal code is 76856. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Mason County, Texas","_seopress_titles_desc":"Mason County, Texas: population, ZIP code 76856, towns like Pontotoc and Katemcy, topaz digging, county history and neighboring counties.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-united-states","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8106"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10296,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8106\/revisions\/10296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}