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Fredericksburg and the surrounding rural areas grew quickly, and on December 15,
1847, 150 settlers petitioned the Texas legislature to establish a new county, which they suggested be named either
"Pierdenales" or Germania. The legislature formally marked the new county off from Bexar and Travis counties
on February 23, 1848, named it after Capt. Robert A. Gillespie, a hero of the recent Mexican War, and made Fredericksburg
the county seat. Gillespie County originally included areas that today are parts of Blanco, Burnet, Llano, and
Mason counties. It underwent the first of five boundary changes in 1858, when the legislature formed Mason and
Blanco counties, changed the Llano County boundary and established the present northern and eastern boundaries
of Gillespie County. The last change came in 1883, when the county's boundaries were redefined and its present
limits set.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in Stonewall, in the eastern part of
the county. The Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, which includes much of the former president's LBJ Ranch,
is located just outside of Stonewall.
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was born in a house that still stands on Main Street
in Fredericksburg. Nimitz, who grew up in Fredericksburg and in nearby Kerrville accepted an appointment to the
United States Naval Academy, rose to the rank of Fleet Admiral and commanded the Pacific War during World War II
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