Palacios is located southwest of
Houston and east of
Victoria on Hwy 35 on Tres Palacios Bay, an inlet of Matagorda Bay off the Gulf of Mexico.
The Matagorda County town was first established in 1903.
As of 1990 Palacios had never had heavy industry, but it had grown steadily because of its proximity to a number of major industrial concerns: the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) in the 1950s, Celanese Chemical Company (1960s), and the South Texas Nuclear Project (1970s; later known as the South Texas Project).
The Palacios seawall, constructed in 1935, has since been renovated, resupported, leveled, and capped, and concrete sidewalks with safety guardrails have been added around the shoreline. The seawall is lit at night.
By 1989 Palacios had grown to a population of 4,603 and some seventy-seven businesses. In 1990 its population was 4,418.