Travis County is in the state of Texas's south-central region, with a population of 1,290,188 in a 2020 census. It is Texas' fifth-most populous county. Austin, Texas's capital, is the county seat.

The Central Texas area, encompassing Travis County, was originally the floor of a shallow sea, according to fossilized aquatic plant and fish species. An extinct volcano's ruins bear witness to a catastrophic geological history. Hunting and gathering peoples may have settled in the area as early as 10,000 years ago, according to archaeological excavations dating from the Archaic Period.

During the fourteenth century, the Tonkawa and Lipan Apache Indians had established themselves in Central Texas, and by the eighteenth century, the Comanche and Kiowa tribes had arrived. Domingo Terán de los Ros, who performed an inspection journey to East Texas in 1691, is the first European believed to have traversed the region.

Stephen F. Austin was awarded his third, or "Little Colony," in 1827 by the Mexican government, which was positioned east of the Colorado River and west and north of the Old San Antonio Road. Mina became the administrative center of the colony, and Travis County grew out of Mina. Jacob M. Harrell, Josiah and Mathias Wilbarger, John F. Webber, and Reuben Hornsby were among the early settlers in the region.

The start of the Texas Revolution slowed settlement activities, and word of the Alamo's collapse pushed many who had already arrived to evacuate. Following the revolution, settlement continued, although at a glacial pace due to the persistent threat of Comanche attacks.

During the 1830s, a network of tiny forts stretched from Bastrop to Fort Colorado or Fort Prairie, five miles east of present-day Austin, along Gilleland Creek, Coleman Branch, Willbarger's Bend, and Webber's Prairie.

The first schools in Travis County were private schools that convened in people's homes or were given space from a church or Masonic lodge. However, by the late 1840s, more extensive private facilities had begun to arise.

When the Republic of Texas Congress chose Waterloo as the new capital's location, critics quickly pointed out the drawbacks. Despite this opposition, the new capital was approved on January 19, 1840, and changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin. Congress created Travis County a few days later, named it after William Barret Travis, and designated Austin as the county seat.