Guadalupe County (pop. 2000: 4,680) is named for the Guadalupe River, which was named in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1689. Commanche raids kept this area fairly unsettled until the 18th century. Veterans of the Texas Revolution were given land in the area, and 1838 saw a group of former Texas Rangers (and others) settle on the northeast bank of the Guadalupe. Originally named Walnut Springs, the community changed the name to Seguin (1839) in honor of Juan N. Seguin. As the presence of troops increased the security in the area around Seguin, many families elected to settle there. Seguin, now the county seat and largest town, is fairly centered in the county.
Good harvests, healthy livestock, and a major market place with the Guadalupe River and a new stage line (est. 1847)for shipping to the rest of the county increased the value of area farms and livestock almost 600% by 1860.
Following the Civil War and through the Reconstruction period, Guadalupe County a severe economic depression, but none of the civil unrest that characterized its neighboring counties..
Capote and Sweet Home were settled by freed Blacks in the late 1860's, and other settlements, Kingsbury, Marion, McQueeney, Cibolo, and Schertz grew around the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, which reached Seguin in 1876.
The Guadalupe River began to be developed in the late 1920s for a source of hydroelectric power. Lake Dunlap and Lake McQueeney, among others, were formed by the dams and designed for resort and recreation areas. Today, Lake McQueeney is known as the "water ski capitol of Texas". Between them, Guadalupe County has developed major recreational sites featuring marina, and water sports as well as world renowned fishing and angling along the Guadalupe River watershed for largemouth bass, spotted bass, white crappie, blue catfish, channel catfish, and sunfish.
The agricultural economy was diversified when oil was discovered in the Darst Creek oilfield (eastern Guadalupe County - 1922), and more so with the new service and resort industries. With the growth of nearby San Antonio ( just 18 miles southwest of Seguin), a sizeable portion of the county's population also began to commute.
