La Grange is the seat of Fayette County, and lies west of Houston and southeast of Austin on US 77 and Hwy 71 on the banks of the Colorado River.

Its history goes back at least to 1819.

By the early 1970s all but one of the cotton gins in La Grange had closed, and businesses in the city offered few new opportunities for young people; many left the city after graduating from high school.

La Grange received national attention during the late 1970s and early 1980s when the story of the Chicken Ranch was publicized through the Broadway production of 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' and by a Hollywood film of the same name.

In 1990 the United States census counted 3,951 people living in La Grange.