The original settlement (located where Highway 90-A crosses Kerr Creek) was abandoned in 1826 after two Indian attacks.

In 1831, the Mexican government had granted Green DeWitt's request for a small cannon for protection against Indian attacks.

Sarah DeWitt and her daughter sewed a flag bearing the likeness of the cannon and the words "Come and Take It", which was flown when the first shots of Texian independence were fired on October 2, 1835.

He anticipated the town would be the next target of General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican army.

The town was derelict immediately after the Texas Revolution, but was eventually rebuilt on the original site in the early 1840s.

Part of the growth of the late 19th century can be attributed to the arrival of various immigrants, among them Jews, many of whom became peddlers and merchants.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Gonzales has a total area of 6.1 square miles (15.7 km2), all land.

[6] The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

The site of the Battle of Gonzales, in the village of Cost, off Highway 97, is marked by a handsome stone and bronze monument commissioned by the State of Texas in 1910.

J. Riely Gordon was also a master of the Romanesque Revival style, hugely popular in the 1890s, and seen here with good effect.

The oldest dwellings in Gonzales date to the mid-19th century, but most of the architecturally notable houses were constructed beginning in the late Victorian period, from about 1880 to about 1915.

Many of the most notable homes, built for the important families of Gonzales, were erected along St. Louis St. and St. Lawrence St. Those two roads edge, to the south and north, a long stretch of public land one block wide running from the historic downtown commercial center and courthouse all the way to Kerr Creek to the east.

An 1855 addition for the men's program was torn down during the Civil War; the materials were used to build Fort Waul, just to the north of the town.

By 1857, the school granted bachelor of arts degrees to females, making it one of the earliest colleges in Texas to do so.

[22] According to the University Interscholastic League of Texas, the Gonzales Apaches football team is in the 4A-1 Region IV District 15; Division: 4A-1.