Blanco Pittsburg Land Company Courthouse Fire Strongbox — Blanco County

The Pittsburg Land Company laid out Pittsburg in 1854–1855 across the Blanco River from present Blanco; when Blanco County organized in 1858, voters chose a county seat on the north bank and named it Blanco. A stone courthouse built in 1875 was destroyed by fire in 1876 along with the Masonic lodge and all county records. Courthouse-fire folklore sometimes imagines unrecovered strongboxes when commercial districts and record rooms burned together. Blanco remained the county seat until Johnson City won the 1890 election; the historic Old Courthouse now serves as a visitor center. Coordinates mark downtown Blanco on US Highway 281 south of Johnson City.