“The greatest show from Earth”, is Hernan Contreras’ description of star gazing. Contreras is a member of the Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society (JSCAS), an organization of amateur astronomers. Their fascination of viewing the night skies and its glorious sights has been shared with the public at star parties held each October and March at Fort McKavett State Historic Site in Menard county for the past 12 years.

The city and county of Hamilton were created in 1858 by the Seventh Texas Legislature, which specified that both the county and county seat would be named for General James Hamilton. Hamilton was a former congressman and governor of South Carolina who took an interest in Texas during the 1836 war for independence, and loaned the new republic $216,000 to help finance its struggle. After Texas became independent, he invested heavily in Texas land, and although he never set foot in Hamilton County, he owned several sections of land in the county that would bear his name.