Cedar Park

Duane's take

Here's the story as the official marker tells it — I'm just the one drivin' you through it. Now, it starts the way a lot of good Texas stories start: with a couple, some land, and more cedar trees than a person could reasonably count. In 1873, George and Harriet Cluck — Harriet being a Standefer before she took that name — purchased a large amount of land right here in this area.

What they found was a place rich in cedar trees and limestone. Their ranch and home became the central point around which a whole community began to take shape. The following year, 1874, a post office was established.

They called it Running Brushy. And Harriet Cluck herself served as an early postmistress — which tells you something about the kind of woman she was. You don't get handed that responsibility just for showing up.

Now here's where the name situation gets a little complicated, and you might want to hold onto something. When the railroad came through Running Brushy in 1882, the community's name was changed — changed to Bruggerhoff, to honor a railroad official. Bruggerhoff.

Say it out loud. I'll wait. It's a mouthful, and apparently the folks living there thought so too, because five years later, they adopted the name we know today: Cedar Park.

The latter years of the nineteenth century were busy ones. A community school and church building was constructed. By 1892, a landscaped park had appeared along the rail line — a proper, tended park, right there beside the tracks.

And George Cluck, ever the observant businessman, noticed the increasing popularity of barbed wire spreading across the Texas landscape. He opened a cedar yard where he made and sold cedar posts. The man had built the community's center, helped plant its roots, and now he was literally fencing in the future.

But the twentieth century was not as kind. Cedar Park did not see much growth during its first half, and by 1960, nearly all traces of that earlier community had disappeared. Just like that — a town that had named itself three times, built a park, run a post office, and kept the railroad honest, had gone quiet as a Sunday morning.

Then came the 1970s. The growth of Austin began pushing outward, and Cedar Park felt it too — a population increase that gave the place a second life. In 1973, the city of Cedar Park was officially incorporated.

From a cedar-rich ranch in 1873 to an incorporated city exactly one hundred years later. George and Harriet Cluck bought some land. The rest, as they say, grew up around it.

What the marker says

In 1873, George and Harriet (Standefer) Cluck purchased a large amount of land in this area, which they found to be rich in cedar trees and limestone. Their ranch and home became the central point around which the Cedar Park community developed. A post office was established in 1874 and was named Running Brushy. Harriet Cluck served as an early postmistress. When the railroad came through Running Brushy in 1882, the community's name was changed to Bruggerhoff to honor a railroad official. Five years later, the current name was adopted. Cedar Park was the scene of much growth and activity during the latter years of the nineteenth century. A community school and church building was constructed, and by 1892, a landscaped park had appeared along the rail line. George Cluck noticed the increasing popularity of barbed wire and opened a cedar yard in which he made and sold cedar posts. Cedar Park did not see much growth during the first part of the twentieth century, and by 1960 nearly all traces of the earlier community had disappeared. During the 1970s, however, the growth of Austin led to a population increase in this area, also, and the city of Cedar Park was incorporated in 1973.