Hondo was founded in 1881 by the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, and was originally known as Hondo City. Hondo became the county seat of Medina County in 1892 when Castroville refused to grant concessions to the railroad and was bypassed. The layout is typical for a railroad town, with commercial buildings on 18th Street facing the tracks and the courthouse square two blocks to the north. The railroad made Hondo the shipping center for the area's agriculture and ranching economy. In 1942 the U.S. Army constructed the Hondo Army Airfield, which was later acquired by the town.
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