The seat of Live Oak County, George West is located northwest of Corpus Christi between Laredo and Beeville along US 59 and US 281 on the banks of the Nueces River between Lake Corpus Christie and the Choke Canyon Reservoir.

Originally the primary economic activity in the George West area was ranching and agriculture. Since the 1920s oil and gas have assumed an equal economic role.

Despite the decline of uranium mining and plunging oil and gas prices, which contributed to an economic slump in George West in the 1980s, the population rose to 2,629 in 1982 and held steady at that figure for the decade.

The school district suffered from a decrease in tax revenue as businesses declined from ninety in 1982 to sixty-six in 1990, when the population was 2,586.