Mason County was originally part of the Bexar District. When Gillespie County was marked off in 1848, most of the future Mason County was included within its boundaries. On January 22, 1858, Mason County, named for Fort Mason, was established by an act of the state legislature. George W. Todd organized the county on August 2 of that year. The act required that a county seat be established within two miles of the fort, and on May 20, 1861, voters chose the town of Mason for this purpose. The original boundaries of the county have remained virtually unchanged over the years. In 1890 a movement began to form a new county out of parts of Mason, McCulloch, San Saba, and Llano counties. It was to be called Mineral County, and Pontotoc was to be the county seat. But the next year, Mason County citizens sent a petition to the Texas legislature that effectively blocked the move. -Handbook of Texas Online: Mason County