Biohazard Cleanup Near West Refugio Refugio, TX

Refugio - pronounced "rif-YOOR-ee-oh" - is a town in Refugio County, of which it is the county seat, on the Texas Gulf Coast plain.

Before Spanish colonization, the site of Refugio was a seasonal camp of the Karankawa people, particularly the Copane band.

Spain founded Mission Nuestra Senora del Refugio on February 4, 1793; after two moves it reached its final site on the Mission River - the present townsite - on January 10, 1795.

Mission Refugio was the last Spanish mission founded in Texas, and it was secularized in 1830.

During the Mexican era, the Power and Hewetson Irish empresario colony was granted the former mission lands in 1831.

The town of Refugio was incorporated on February 1, 1842.

During the Texas Revolution, the Battle of Refugio was fought here in 1836, and Amon B. King's Texas auxiliaries were executed afterward - an event commemorated by a Texas Centennial monument sculpted by Raoul Josset in 1936.

Refugio's population peaked at 4,944 in 1960 and has declined since, falling to 2,712 at the 2020 census.

The 2020 census counted 2,712 people in Refugio living in 957 households.

Refugio is the birthplace of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan.