McLennan County is in East Central Texas, 230 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico, bordered by Hill, Limestone, Falls, Bell, Coryell and Bosque counties. Waco, the county seat is on the Brazos River at the intersection of Interstate Highway 35 and U.S. Highway 84, ninety miles south of Dallas and 100 miles north of Austin. Situated partially in the Grand Prairie and partially in the Blackland Prairie. McLennan County comprises 1,031 square miles of flat to rolling terrain at elevations ranging from 400 to 850 feet above sea level.
McLennan County was established by the Texas Legislature on January 22, 1850 and named after Neil McLennan, one of the early settlers. The county government was organized in August 1850 with Waco as its county seat.. Cotton was the dominant feature of McLennan County agriculture from the 1880s to the 1950s. McLennan County consists of Bellmead, Beverly Hills, Gholson, Hallsburg, Hewitt, Lacy Lakeview, Leroy, Lorena, Moody, Riesel, Robinson, Ross, Waco, West, Woodway.
Extension agents serve in a variety of outreach educational roles including Agriculture, Natural Resources, Family and Community Health, 4-H and Youth Development. Current issues in these areas are addressed through educational community programs.
