Round Rock

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Round Rock, Williamson County — and friend, this is a town that has been reinventing itself since before reinventing yourself was fashionable. Permanent settlement began out here in the late 1830s, which means somebody looked at this stretch of central Texas and said, yes, this is the spot.

By 1848, former Austin Mayor Jacob Harrell had made his way here, selling town lots near the Stagecoach Road crossing at Brushy Creek. That's the kind of man who knows where things are heading before they get there. A post office opened in 1851, tucked inside Thomas Oatts' store, and they called it Brushy Creek — sensible enough, named for the water.

But three years later, the name changed. Changed to Round Rock, for a distinctive limestone formation marking a natural ford where wagons could cross. That rock wasn't decoration.

It was a landmark, a guide, a fixed point in an unfixed world. And the name stuck. Through the 1850s, folks poured in from several states and from Sweden, and the population doubled.

New stores came up, churches, fraternal lodges, grain mills — a community knitting itself together stitch by stitch. By 1862, Round Rock even had its first institution of higher learning, the Round Rock Academy. Then came the Civil War, and after it, the old trail and stage road took on new purpose as a prominent cattle drive route.

The longhorns were moving, and Round Rock was in the path. Then 1876 arrived, and with it something that changed everything. The International-Great Northern Railroad came through — but it developed a new townsite east of the existing Round Rock.

East. Not on top of the old place, east of it. A commercial district sprang up along Georgetown Avenue, which folks came to call Main Street, and limestone buildings went up one after another.

They called it New Town, and New Town did not waste any time. The old settlement — the one with the history, the rock, the post office in Oatts' store — saw its postal name changed to Old Round Rock. Just like that.

For months, the new site was the railroad terminus, and everything rode in on those rails: lumber mills, flour mills, cotton gins, blacksmith shops, wagon shops, banks, hotels, restaurants, stores, schools. The whole catalog of civilization, delivered by locomotive. Now here's the part that ought to raise an eyebrow.

Round Rock — this town that began at a creek crossing in the 1830s — was challenging the state capital for economic control of central Texas. Boasting six hotels to Austin's five. Serving as the retail hub for several counties to the west.

Six hotels. Austin had five. Let that settle for a moment.

The railroad also made Round Rock cosmopolitan, pulling in new residents from all over the United States and all around the world. Well-positioned on major transportation routes, the way it always had been, Round Rock became one of the nation's fastest-growing cities by the late twentieth century. And in 1983, two dozen commercial buildings in Round Rock's historic downtown were listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

That limestone downtown — built in the boom years after the railroad came — earned its permanence. From a ford in the creek to a spot on the National Register, Round Rock has always known how to use where it stands.

What the marker says

Permanent settlement began in this area in the late 1830s. By 1848, former Austin Mayor Jacob Harrell moved here, selling town lots near the Stagecoach Road crossing at Brushy Creek. A post office named “Brushy Creek” opened in 1851 in Thomas Oatts’ store. Three years later, the name changed to “Round Rock” for a distinctive limestone formation marking a natural ford for wagons. With immigration from several states and Sweden, the population doubled during the 1850s, bringing new stores, churches, fraternal lodges and grain mills. The first institution of higher learning, Round Rock Academy, began in 1862. After the Civil War, the former trail and stage road became a prominent cattle drive route. In 1876, the International-Great Northern Railroad developed a new townsite east of the existing Round Rock. A commercial district sprang up along Georgetown Avenue (Main Street) with construction of many limestone buildings. “New Town” quickly eclipsed the established settlement, whose postal name changed again to “Old Round Rock.” For months, the new site was the railroad terminus, bringing lumber and flour mills, cotton gins, blacksmith and wagon shops, banks, hotels, restaurants, stores and schools. Round Rock challenged the state capital for economic control of central Texas, boasting six hotels to Austin’s five and serving as the retail hub for several counties to the west. The railroad also made Round Rock a more cosmopolitan place, bringing new residents from all over the U.S. And all around the world. Well-positioned for growth by its location on major transportation routes, Round Rock became one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities by the late 20th century. Two dozen commercial buildings in Round Rock’s historic downtown were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.