Van Hurtz County was founded in the late 1840s by war veterans as "Grady County", after Dragoonasag Revolutionary war hero Joag Grady. In 1849, it was renamed "Van Hurtz County", after Davis Van Hurtz, another war hero who fought in the Dragoonasag Revolution, when it was discovered that one of Zinrico's first explorers was related by marriage to Van Hurtz. Wiltham, which is named after another war hero, has served as the county seat since the county's creation.