Bertram

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. The town of Bertram didn't just appear out of nowhere. It was founded in 1882, the year the Austin and Northwestern Railroad pushed a route right through this part of Burnet County.

Now, railroads needed friends, and one of those friends was a man named Rudolph Bertram, an Austin merchant who was instrumental in getting that rail line developed. The town carries his name to this day. Before Bertram was Bertram, though, people were already living about two miles to the southeast, in a settlement called South Gabriel.

When the railroad came through and the new town took shape, those early residents didn't just leave their old lives behind. Brothers L. R. and J.

W. Gray actually moved homes and commercial buildings from South Gabriel to the new townsite. Picked them up and brought them along.

The first store, also relocated from South Gabriel, was run by James E. Riley and a fellow by the name of Capt. Tom D.

Vaughan. So Bertram was, from its very first days, a town that arrived with its history already packed. It grew into a marketing center for the area's diversified agricultural production, which in this stretch of Texas meant farms and ranches of all kinds.

Then came World War I, and with it a surge in demand for farm and ranch products. That demand pushed Bertram along, and by the nineteen twenties this town was humming. Auto dealerships.

Four banks. A newspaper. A hotel.

A variety of other businesses filling out the streets. Four banks in a town this size. That tells you something about what was flowing through here.

But the good times didn't hold forever. The economic depression of the nineteen thirties came down hard. Then World War II.

Then improved methods of transportation that shifted the old patterns of trade and movement. Those three forces, arriving one after another, combined to limit Bertram's growth. The town was incorporated in the nineteen seventies and today it remains an agricultural center, quieter than its peak years, but still standing.

The marker calls it a reminder of the pioneers who settled here over a century ago, and here's the thing that gives that line some weight: many of their descendants still live in the area. Still serving as leaders of the community. The railroad came through in 1882 and the roots it helped plant have never let go.

What the marker says

The town of Bertram was founded in 1882 when the Austin and Northwestern Railroad established a route through the area. The community was named for Rudolph Bertram, an Austin merchant who was instrumental in the development of the rail line. Many early residents were from the settlement of South Gabriel (2 mi. SE). Homes and commercial buildings of the pioneer settlers were moved here by brothers L. R. and J. W. Gray. The first store, also relocated from South Gabriel, was run by James E. Riley and Capt. Tom D. Vaughan. Bertram developed as a marketing center for the area's diversified agricultural production. Continued growth came during World War I when the demand for farm and ranch products increased. By the 1920s it was the site of auto dealerships, four banks, a newspaper, a hotel and a variety of other businesses. The economic depression of the 1930s, World War II and improved methods of transportation combined to limit Bertram's growth. Incorporated in the 1970s, the town remains an agricultural center. It serves as a reminder of the pioneers who settled here over a century ago. Many of their descendants still live in the area and serve as leaders of the community.