Bastrop County

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're rolling through Bastrop County now, and this place has been through a few names in its time, which tells you something right there. It starts way back in 1821, when this land was part of Austin's grant.

Big territory, full of possibility, and somebody had to start drawing lines on it. They did exactly that in 1834, when they created the municipality of Mina. That was the name it wore into the Republic of Texas, when it became the County of Mina in 1836.

Now, Mina is a fine name. Nothing wrong with Mina. But it wasn't the name that stuck.

On December 18, 1837, the name changed. Changed to Bastrop. And the man behind that name is worth knowing.

Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop, 1770 to 1829. That's the man. He served as land commissioner of Austin's Colony, which in that era meant he was the fellow standing between settlers and the paperwork that could make or break their claims to a piece of Texas soil.

He also served as a member of the Congress of Coahuila and Texas. A man operating at the intersection of law, land, and the founding of something enormous. So when they went looking for a name worthy of a county seat, they landed on his.

Bastrop. The county, and the town at its center, carrying that name forward from December 18, 1837, right down to the road you're on today.

What the marker says

A part of Austin's grant in 1821; created the municipality of Mina, 1834; became the County of Mina in the Republic of Texas, 1836. Name changed to "Bastrop," December 18, 1837, in honor of Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop, 1770-1829, land commissioner of Austin's Colony. Member of the Congress of Coahuila and Texas. Bastrop, the County Seat