The seat of Hamilton County, Hamilton is located southwest of Fort Worth between Comanche and Temple on US 281 and Hwy 36 near the Leon River.
Hamilton is an important market center with banks and more than 100 businesses, including plants that manufacture clothes, wood and steel products, and dairy products. The native limestone courthouse, built in 1887 to replace the previous two, which burned down, now also serves as the county museum.
Hamilton calls itself the dove-hunting capital of Texas and holds an Annual Dove Festival at the late-summer opening of the dove-hunting season.
The population after the 1960 high of 3,016 declined to 2,760 in 1970 before hitting a new high of 3,189 in 1980. In 1990 the population was 2,937.