Many family-owned businesses, farms, and ranches are still owned by descendants of the non-indigenous families.
The first Spaniard to explore the area was Cabeza de Vaca in the early 1530s, some 40 years after Columbus arrived in the New World.
In 1930, the local Hondo Lions Club erected the now somewhat famous sign reading "This is God's Country, Don't Drive Thru It Like Hell" at the city limits with the intention of slowing down those speeding while traveling through town.
Hondo is located approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Downtown San Antonio.
Hondo was mentioned in Season 2 Episode 13 of The Night Shift and described as "a two stoplight town down I-90".
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.
[5] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,289 people, 2,574 households, and 1,846 families residing in the city.
Texas State Highway 173 runs north-south immediately to the east of the city, leads north 29 miles (47 km) to Bandera and south 21 miles (34 km) to Devine, where it intersects Interstate Highway 35.