Llano, Texas is a small retirement community in the Texas Hill Country. The town is also a very popular area for deer hunting.

Llano TX History

Llano was founded near the Llano River in 1856. In the 1870’s the town was little more than a frontier trading center. Iron deposits discovered at Iron Mountain in northwestern Llano County led to an economic boom in Llano from 1886 to 1893. Farming, ranching, and the granite industry remained the foundations of the town's economy in the 1900’s. Granite quarrying and finishing were extensive, amounting to a million-dollar-a-year industry by the 1950’s.

The hills were formed by the Llano Uplift, a geologic event far in the past. The rocks were not tilted, but lifted up and then eroded as the seas receded. The abundance and diversity of minerals in this area are unequaled in the state. Rock hunters often search below the Llano River dam in downtown Llano for rocks and minerals such as quartz granite, gneiss, flint, schist, feldspar and limestone. Llanite, a rare type of brown granite with sky blue crystals and rusty-pink feldspar, is found nowhere else in the world except in Llano County.

Llano Texas – Deer Hunting Capital & Retirement Area

The centuries-long habitation of the American Indians in the area has produced numerous archaeological sites which attract amateur archaeologists year-round. And, Llano is to many hunters the unrivaled Deer Capital of Texas. In fact, the density of deer in the Llano Basin is greater than any other area in the United States.