Historic Communities

The following histories are taken from The New Handbook of Texas published by The Texas State Historical Association.

Alum Creek

Alum Creek is located where Highway 71 crosses Alum Creek about four miles southeast of Bastrop in central Bastrop County. It is one of the oldest communities in Bastrop County, having been settled about 1829 by seven families from Stephen F. Austin's lower colonies. The Cottles, Highsmiths, Crafts, Parkers, Grimeses, Ridgeways and Whites built a fort for protection against Indians near the mouth of the creek and located their cabins and farms nearby. By 1835 a private school had been established in the community, and in 1846 a five-acre plot was deeded by James Craft for an Alum Creek campground and meetinghouse. An Alum Creek post office was established in 1851, and by 1853 a local Methodist Episcopal church had been formed. In 1884 the community had a population of 200 that supported three mills, two general stores, a blacksmith shop and a saloon. By 1896 the population had dipped to forty, and two years later the post office was discontinued. Though an Alum Creek school continued until 1937, the community failed to maintain enough people to be included in twentieth-century population estimates. During the 1930s Alum Creek was the site of a community club. By the mid-1980s the community consisted of a few houses and a cluster of country antique shops. In 2000 the population was 70. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bastrop Advertiser, Historical Edition, August 29, 1935. Bastrop Historical Society, In the Shadow of the Lost Pines: A History of Bastrop County and Its People (Bastrop, Texas: Bastrop Advertiser, 1955). William Henry Korges, Bastrop County, Texas: Historical and Educational Development (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1933). Bill Moore, Bastrop County, 1691–1900 (Wichita Falls: Nortex, 1977).

Bastrop

Early History Fort Puesta del Colorado was established at the future site of Bastrop in about 1805. Stephen F. Austin traveled through the locale on August 7, 1821, and noted “…near the river heavy pine timber, grapes in immense quantities….The bottom where the road crosses is…mostly high prairie…Pecan, Ash, Oak, Cedar, abundance of fish…” It was Moses Austin's dream to colonize Texas. He received the help of the self-styled Baron de Bastrop, Philip Hendrick Nering Bogel. Baron de Bastrop had escaped prosecution for embezzlement in Holland by coming to the Spanish territories in 1795. When Moses died in 1821, his son, Stephen F. Austin continued his efforts. The Baron gained influence with the Mexican government that Empresario Austin much needed. Austin recognized his contributions by having the new town named “Bastrop.” The Town of Bastrop (Villa de Bastrop) was formally established on June 8, 1832, as the principal settlement in the Stephen F. Austin Little Colony of 1827. The founding grant, signed by Mexican Land Commissioner Jose Miguel de Arciniega, recognized the special nature of the locale as the “place on the Colorado River where it crosses the road which goes from Bexar (San Antonio) to Nacogdoches…considering it to be a very suitable site for the founding of a new town…” In the three years following the 1832 establishment of the town, the population of the area swelled to 1,100 or so, adding many new immigrants to pioneers such as Edward Burleson, Reuben Hornsby and Josiah Wilbarger. In 1834, the Mexican government renamed the town Mina, after a Spanish war hero. The town served as a business, commercial and political center for an area that stretched far beyond Bastrop County; it was the place where settlers rallied for retaliation and forted up for protection when Indian depredations occurred in the vicinity. In May 1835, Mina citizens became the first to organize a committee of safety to stockpile arms and keep citizens informed of revolutionary developments. The town suffered greatly in the Runaway Scrape of 1836, when residents returned to find it completely destroyed by the Mexican army and Indians. Three Bastropians signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836, several died at the Alamo, and 60 men are recorded as having fought at the Battle of San Jacinto. The town was incorporated under the laws of Texas on December 18, 1837, and the newly established Congress of the Republic of Texas changed the name back to "Bastrop." The community then comprised of a courthouse, a hotel, a stockade, a gunsmith shop, a general store, and a number of residences. With farming, the timber industry provided a mainstay for the local economy. The Lost Pines forest, the westernmost stand of the eastern pine forest and the only timber available in what was then western Texas, contributed to the economy. In 1839, when Austin became the capital of the republic, Bastrop began supplying the city with lumber. Soon ox teams were carting Bastrop lumber to San Antonio, along the western frontier, and into Mexico. In the 1850s, Bastrop was rapidly developing. In 1853, the Bastrop Advertiser began its long publishing history. The Bastrop Academy opened, and in 1856 the Bastrop Military Institute opened in the same building. Although the citizens of Bastrop voted against secession, they aided the Confederate cause in raising money to equip companies and in providing a supply warehouse. Fire destroyed most of the downtown buildings in 1862. In 1869, the highest flood in the town’s recorded history forced evacuation. The railroad arrived in the early 1870s. The period during and after the Civil War saw various industries in Bastrop. By 1884, Bastrop had a population of 2,000 with three schools, two cotton gins and several general stores. A wrought-iron bridge built across the Colorado in 1890 put in-town ferries out of business. In the 1920s, Bastrop was the scene of extensive lumber operations, and coal existed in large quantities. The population in the Bastrop area increased tremendously during World War II after the establishment of Camp Swift. Industries in 1947 included a pecan-shelling plant, a cedar chest factory and a cedar oil manufacturer. From 1950 through the 1970s, Bastrop’s population ranged between 2,950 and 4,050. In the 1960s and 1970s, several changes occurred in Bastrop including complete school integration and the establishment of the LCRA Sim Gideon Power Plant. Later, residents began restoring many historic buildings and Austin commuters began arriving. In 1979, the National Register of Historic Places admitted 131 Bastrop buildings and sites to its listings. At least 30 display a Texas Medallion marker. Bastrop Today A Texas Main Street City since 2007, Bastrop was also named a Distinctive Destination in 2010 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in recognition of the city's work to preserve its historic character, promote heritage tourism, enhance the community and extend its welcome. In 2012, the Texas Commission on the Arts designated Bastrop a Cultural Arts District. In 2013, Bastrop became one of two designated Culinary Districts in the country. In September 2011, 95 percent of Bastrop State Park was destroyed by wildfire; however, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) buildings from the 1930s were saved. It was deemed the most destructive wildfire in Texas' history. Volunteers came from across the country to help fight the blaze which continued for several weeks. Thankfully, the historic downtown escaped damage. Today Main Street is lined with century-old structures housing antique shops, specialty stores and restaurants. The 1889 Bastrop Opera House continues to offer an array of entertainment. Fisherman’s Park provides access to the river for fishing or kayaking. Several historic homes are now bed-and-breakfast inns, recalling the elegance of the period. Bastrop is home to excellent golf courses and spacious, new hotels including the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa in nearby Cedar Creek. There are also cabins for the more adventurous. All of this makes Bastrop, Texas an ideal place to live, work and play.

Cedar Creek

Cedar Creek is beside the creek for which it is named eleven miles west of Bastrop in west central Bastrop County. The area was settled as early as 1832, when Addison Litton was granted a league of blackland prairie on both sides of the creek. He and his wife, Mary Owen Litton, soon established their home there. They were joined by other pioneers such as Jesse Billingsley and John Day Morgan who built the first log cabin on the townsite. In January 1842 a Methodist minister preached to a full house at the Owens home on Cedar Creek, and the religious and social life of the community soon revolved around Methodist meetings. A local post office opened in 1852 with Elisha Billingsley as postmaster. A Presbyterian church was organized in 1855. Violence occurred in the small community during the Reconstruction era when a black justice of the peace and constable were elected. One man's refusal to allow Constable Ike Wilson to serve papers on him led to a shootout in which two black men and two white men were killed. By 1884 Cedar Creek had a population of 600 and served as a shipping point for cotton and country produce. The community's school, the Central Texas Normal Academy, closed its first annual session in June of that year, having enrolled 101 pupils. By 1896 the community's population had dropped to 250. In 1914 Cedar Creek had 225 residents, four general stores, a gin, a tailor, a doctor, and a cattle dealer. Oil drilling came to the area by 1913, and in 1928 a pool was discovered on the Yost farm four miles east of the community. Though not a major pool, the Yost oilfield was producing commercial quantities in the mid-1940s. The population reached 300 during these years but gradually declined afterward. In 1984 the community had six businesses and 145 people. At that time an annual homecoming picnic was being held the fourth Sunday of each May. In 1990 the population was still reported as 145. With the addition of the Optimum Health Institute, the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa (located in nearby Lost Pines, Texas) and the Cedar Creek High School, Cedar Creek is now a thriving community. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bastrop Historical Society, In the Shadow of the Lost Pines: A History of Bastrop County and Its People (Bastrop, Texas: Bastrop Advertiser, 1955). William Henry Korges, Bastrop County, Texas: Historical and Educational Development (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1933). Bill Moore, Bastrop County, 1691-1900 (Wichita Falls: Nortex, 1977).

Elgin

The City of Elgin was created by the Houston and Texas Central Railroad on August 18, 1872 and named for Robert Morris Elgin, the railroad’s land commissioner, following the practice of naming new railroad towns after officers of the company. The original plat placed the train depot in the center of a one square mile area. The City of Elgin owes its existence to a major flood of the Colorado River in 1869. Originally, the railroad was to have run from McDade, ten miles east of Elgin, southwest to the Colorado River at a point somewhere between Bastrop and Webberville, then to Austin following the river. Many of the original residents of the new town of Elgin came from Perryville, or Hogeye as it was nicknamed, located 2 miles to the south. The community was known by three different names. The post office was officially named Young’s Settlement, and the churches and Masonic Lodge carried the name Perryville. The name Hogeye was given to the stage stop at the Litton home where the community dances were held and according to legend, the fiddler knew only one tune. “Hogeye”, which he played over and over as the crowd danced on the puncheon floor. In 1885, a group of citizens met in Elgin to organize a new north-south railroad which would run from Taylor, the rail head for the Missouri, Kansas and Texas (“Katy”) Railroad 16 miles to the north, through Elgin to Bastrop, the county seat, 16 miles to the south. The Taylor, Elgin and Bastrop Railroad were formed in 1886 and began building the line. That same year the “Katy” acquired the line and continued the construction on to Houston. Thus, Elgin became the beneficiary of two major rail lines with eight passenger trains daily. By 1890, the population of Elgin had reached 831, and Elgin was growing during the next few years many new businesses were started. The construction business, brick making, farming, and nearby coalmines brought many Latin American and Black citizens to the area. The year 1900 produced a bumper crop of cotton and Elgin prospered. The population had increased to 1,258. The city incorporated in 1901, electing Charles Gillespie, building contractor, Mayor; J.D. Hemphill, Marshal; W.E. McCullough, J. Wed Davis, Ed Lawhon, Max Hirach, and F.S. Wade, Aldermen. Local law enforcement was established to enforce newly established civil and criminal codes. By 1910, Elgin was enjoying a period of great prosperity as families from out on the prairie and surrounding communities moved to Elgin and built nice homes. Elgin rapidly became the most important agricultural center in Bastrop County. Five cotton gins and a cotton oil mill were in operation at the same time. Three manufacturing brick companies in the area gave Elgin the title, “The Brick Capital of the Southwest”.

McDade

McDade, on U.S. Highway 290 eight miles southeast of Elgin in northern Bastrop County, was established in 1869 in anticipation of the arrival of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. Two years later the first train reached the site, and the town was officially platted and named after James W. McDade, who lived in Brenham. In its early days McDade was also called Tie City or Tie Town. Two explanations for the name are given, the first being that ties and logs cut for the railroad were gathered at the site. The other story is that it was known as Tie City because of its status as a regional freight and cotton shipping center. The first business in McDade was a tent saloon, where a tin cup of whiskey sold for 10 cents. With the coming of the railroad McDade became a shipping center for cotton and freight going to and from Austin, Bastrop, and Smithville. By the time the town was incorporated in 1873 it had a post office, a cotton gin, and a twelve-member Baptist congregation. The next year the first school was established. In 1879 McDade was called a "thriving depot town" of 150 people, but following the Civil War lawlessness and violence in the area had become a serious concern. The area was a stronghold for a group of outlaws known as the "Notch Cutters," and county law enforcement was far away and ineffective. By 1875 local citizens took the law into their own hands and hung two suspected outlaws, provoking retaliation with the murder of two vigilantes, which led to the hanging of a third outlaw. Early in 1876 two men were caught with a skinned cow, and the skin showed the Olive brand. Both men were shot on the spot. Five months later 15 men, believed to have been led by the son of one of the men shot, attacked the Olive ranch headquarters, killing two men of the ranch and burning the ranch house. On June 26, 1877, vigilantes stopped a dance, took four men out and lynched them. For five years after there was little crime or trouble. However, in November 1883 two men were murdered in Fedor, and in a separate incident another man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. Shortly afterward the deputy sheriff investigating these crimes was shot to death in McDade. A vigilante committee hung four of the suspected perpetrators. But the violence continued with the McDade Christmas hangings on Christmas Eve 1883, when three more suspected outlaws were executed. This event led to a gunfight in front of a McDade saloon on Christmas Day that left three more men dead. This ended the vigilante "justice," but violence and gunfights continued until 1912. McDade had a district school and a church in 1884. It also had a thriving broom factory, which employed ten workers in 1881, the first year of operation. Matthew Dunkin started a pottery called Randolph Factory east of Bishop. When he died Milton Stoker moved it to McDade to be near clay deposits. In 1890 Robert L. Williams became owner, and he and his son operated the business until World War II. Called McDade Pottery, it caused the town to become well known throughout the state. Williams also invented and patented a charcoal cooker that became a large seller. There were also several coal mines in the area, and the coal was used by local businesses. In 1890 the McDade Mentor, a weekly newspaper, was founded, and the population stood at 250. Six years later the town had 400 residents, a graded school, and Baptist, Christian, and Methodist churches, as well as businesses that included two blacksmiths, two milliners, and two doctors. McDade reached a population of 500 by 1914 and 600 by 1925. By the 1930s, though, the community was declining. McDade Pottery closed during World War II. In the mid-1950s the town's population fell to 220, and the four-block business district was reduced to less than a block. However, the town remained an agricultural center particularly noted for the melons produced in the surrounding sandy soils. By the late 1960s the population had taken a turn to 300, and in the mid-1970s it moved to an estimated 345, where it stabilized through through 1990. In the mid-1980s McDade remained a primarily agricultural community with two rated businesses. The population remained at 345 in 2000, but the number of businesses had increased to 26. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bastrop Historical Society, In the Shadow of the Lost Pines: A History of Bastrop County and Its People (Bastrop, Texas: Bastrop Advertiser, 1955). Luckett P. Bishop, Sr., "Shootout on Christmas Day," Frontier Times, July 1965. Mary Ficklen, "McDade's Christmas Murders," Cattleman, December 1967. Bill Moore, Bastrop County, 1691–1900 (Wichita Falls: Nortex, 1977).

Paige

Paige is on U.S. Highway 290 forty-four miles east of Austin in northeast Bastrop County. The Old San Antonio Road, now State Highway 21, borders the north side. Paige was established at the site of a railroad water tower on the newly built Houston and Texas Central Railway in 1872 and named for Norman Paige, a civil engineer, who had laid out the route of the railway. In 1874 a post office was established. In 1876 the railway station was moved three miles east to its present location. Fedor Soder arrived in 1877, built a store and a gin, and purchased and sold many town lots to other Germans; the population is still primarily German. In 1884 Paige reported a population of 350 and several businesses, including seven cotton gins. By 1886 the population had reached 500. The town was a railroad shipping center for cotton, cattle, hogs, cordwood, butter, eggs, potatoes and other produce. It had a pickle factory, creamery and broom factory. By 1914 Paige had a bank and telephone service, but the population had decreased to 400. In 1941 Paige had an estimated population of 467 and 10 businesses. During World War II the population began to decline again, partially as a result of the decrease in cotton production. In 1952 the town reported eight businesses and a population of 220. In 1981 the Hou-Tex Oil Company drilled for gas near Paige and connected its well to the Giddings-Bastrop pipeline. In 1982 a volunteer fire department was established and the Paige Community Center was incorporated. In 1990 Paige reported four businesses and had a population of 275. The population remained the same in 2000. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Doris Goerner Laake, The History of Paige, Texas and Vicinity (Austin: Eakin Press, 1983).

Red Rock

Red Rock, 12 miles southwest of Bastrop in southwestern Bastrop County, is said to have derived its name from a red rock used in building the chimney of first settler James Brewer's house in the early 1850s. During its early days the settlement was apparently also called "Hannah Land." A Red Rock post office was established in 1870. By the mid-1870s the Red Rock Male and Female Academy was in operation, and Red Rock residents were entertaining the populace of surrounding towns with a community dramatic troupe. Red Rock was described in 1879 as a "thriving village," and five years later it had a population of 150, a steam gristmill and a cotton gin. Around 1890 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad extended its line, and the community moved a mile to meet it. Red Rock then had 200 people, the gristmill and gin, three general stores, a drugstore and a dry goods store. The early years of the 20th century brought a wave of growth to the community. A 1909 newspaper estimated the population at 500 and called Red Rock "a splendid cotton market." The town had a bank with assets close to $60,000, and the cotton gin was processing 2,500 bales annually. In 1914 the community's population was reported as 350, and it had Baptist and Christian churches. During the 1920s the Red Rock area became an oil-drilling site, with wells developed by the mid-1930s. No boom in population resulted, however, and the community remained primarily a center for agriculture and cattle raising. The population dipped to 100 in 1940, then increased to 250 and remained steady for the next two decades. In the late 1960s it again dropped and was estimated at 100 through 1990. In 2000 the population was 125. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bastrop Historical Society, In the Shadow of the Lost Pines: A History of Bastrop County and Its People (Bastrop, Texas: Bastrop Advertiser, 1955). Bill Moore, Bastrop County, 1691–1900 (Wichita Falls: Nortex, 1977).

Rockne

Rockne, 12 miles southwest of Bastrop in southwestern Bastrop County, has its origins in German settlers such as the Lehman family who arrived around 1846. The original parish included the Meuth community but was later divided into two parishes, and seven families began worship at the Rockne site. The first mass in Rockne was held at Phillip Goertz's home in 1876, and the next year Goertz and his wife, Catherine, with Michael and Rebecca Wolf, donated the site upon which the first church was built. The church burned in 1891. The second church was built on 10 acres donated by John T. and Rosina Lehman and dedicated in 1892. By this time a small community had sprung up on the Rockne site. It was first called "Walnut Creek," then "Lehman" or "Lehmanville." In 1900 St. Elizabeth's School opened; its name was later changed to Sacred Heart. Lehman had a post office from 1900 to 1903, but it later became known as "Hilbigville" for W. M. Hilbig, a member of an area pioneer family, who established a business in the community in 1922. Rockne received its present name after Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne's death in 1931, when the schoolchildren of the community voted to rename their town in his honor. In 1935 Rockne was identified as an agricultural and cattle-raising community profiting from the development of surrounding oilfields. In 1940 the third Rockne Catholic church was dedicated on the site of the one dedicated in 1892. In the 1940s the population ranged between 150 and 280. By 1950 it had stabilized at 150. By 1976, when the Rockne church was renovated, the population of the community had grown to 400; it remained 400 through 2000. On March 10, 1988, Rockne opened its post office for one day, during which a Knute Rockne 22-cent commemorative stamp was issued. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Vertical Files, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. D. L. Vest, Watterson Folk of Bastrop County (Waco: Texian Press, 1963).

Rosanky

Rosanky, on Farm Road 535, 11 miles south of Bastrop in southern Bastrop County, is named for Ed Rosanky, member of a pioneer Prussian family who settled in the area in 1854. The loosely organized community that grew up in the area was first known as "Snake Prairie." A Snake Prairie school was established in 1868 and a post office in 1871 with Mrs. S. C. Hutchinson as postmistress. With the coming of the railroad in the early 1890s, Ed Rosanky donated land for a station and built a store. The post office, which had been renamed "Eagle Branch" in 1884 and discontinued between 1889 and 1891, was renamed "Rosanky" in 1893. In 1896 Rosanky had a population of 100, three churches, three general stores (two containing saloons), a corn mill and gin, a cotton gin, and a blacksmith shop. By 1909 the settlement was a "thrifty little town" of 250, according to one contemporary newspaper. The population was reported at 250 during the 1920s, when the Rosanky area became an oil-testing site. In 1933 the community reported two schools: a 10-grade, 50-pupil school and the Ford school for black children. By that time the population had dropped to 190, where it remained through the late 1960s, when it took a slight upward swing. The population was estimated at 210 from 1970 to 1990, and 250 in 2000. The community, settled and developed largely by people of German extraction, has served as a trading point for surrounding livestock-raising operations. In the mid-1980s many of its residents commuted to jobs in Bastrop, Smithville and Austin. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bastrop Advertiser, Historical Edition, August 29, 1935. WPA Texas Historical Records Survey, Inventory of the County Archives of Texas (MS, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin).

Smithville

Smithville, just off State Highway 71 and 10 miles southeast of Bastrop in southeastern Bastrop County, was established by Thomas Gazeley, who in 1827 settled near the present site. Gazeley operated a store there until his death in 1853, and the community that sprang up around the store was named Smithville, after William Smith, another early settler. J. P. Jones and Frank Smith opened a store in the community in 1867, and four years later the Smithville Presbyterian Church was organized. A post office was established in 1876, and Smithville was described in May 1879 as a thriving village. With the coming of the Bastrop and Taylor Railway eight years later, the community of 17 families moved two miles west to meet it. By 1890 Smithville had 616 residents, and its businesses included two hotels, three millineries and a medical practice. In the 1890s the community boomed. Extension of the railroad line to Lockhart in 1892 brought more business, as did extension of the line to Houston the next year. The line was renamed the Taylor, Bastrop and Houston in October 1886, and it was merged with the Missouri, Kansas and Texas system in 1891. The biggest boost came in 1894, when the Missouri, Kansas and Texas established its central shops in Smithville. The population quickly doubled, and the town was incorporated in March 1895. In 1896 it had an estimated 2,500 residents, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Catholic churches, two hotels, and numerous other businesses, including four physicians' offices. In 1900 Smithville had a population of 2,577, which was 10 percent of the Bastrop County population. A 1909 newspaper account described Smithville, headquarters for three divisions of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line, as having a population of 3,500 and railroad shops, a roundhouse and "a fine Y.M.C.A. building." At that time it had a bank (established in 1907), and the Smithville Times had already been publishing for fifteen years. The population level through the early 1900s hovered between 3,000 and 4,000. It peaked in the mid-1940s at an estimated 4,200. Though railroad jobs were beginning to disappear, in 1949 the railroad still employed several hundred workers in Smithville. The town at this time had a dentist, two lawyers, three doctors, and six ministers and priests. By 1962 the population had dropped below 3,000, but it soon rose again. In the mid-1970s the town had a new library, a city hall, and a storm drainage system and received a statewide award for the best United States Bicentennial program. By 1984 the Smithville Times was still being published, and the town was a manufacturing and trading center with more than 70 rated businesses and an estimated population of 3,470. Local products included cedar cabins, fencing, furniture, and ship doors and components. Smithville also remained a center for farming and livestock raising. It was the site of an annual three-day festival, the Smithville Jamboree. In 1990 its population was 3,196. By 2000 the population had reached 3,901. BIBLIOGRAPHY: William Henry Korges, Bastrop County, Texas: Historical and Educational Development (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1933). Bill Moore, Bastrop County, 1691–1900 (Wichita Falls: Nortex, 1977). Vertical Files, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

Other Historic Communities in Bastrop County

Bateman Bateman, two miles south of Red Rock in southern Bastrop County, was established in the early 1880s and named for one of the original settlers. With the coming of the railroad a few years later, it became a shipping point, and in 1900 a post office was established. Butler Butler, five miles southeast of Elgin, was established with the coming of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad in 1871. Glenham Glenham (now Dunstan) is west of State Highway 95 in north central Bastrop County. It is one of several towns that sprang up during the lignite mining industry after 1900. Grassyville Grassyville, a small agricultural community 14 miles east of Bastrop in far eastern Bastrop County, was settled by German immigrants around 1856. In 1884, Grassyville had a population of 75 and two churches, a steam gristmill, a cotton gin and a district school. Hills Prairie Hills Prairie, four miles south of Bastrop, had its origins when Elisha Barton and Edward Jenkins settled in the area about 1830. Their settlement was called Hill’s Prairie after Abram Wiley (Wylie) Hill, a settler who bought 2,220 acres from Edward Jenkins’ widow, Sarah. Phelan Phelan, an early coal mining town, was about three miles north of Bastrop. (It is now private property.) Sayersville Sayersville is a mile west of State Highway 95 and seven miles north of Bastrop in north central Bastrop County. The community became known as Sayersville in 1889, and was a producer of fuels such as cordwood and, after 1913, lignite. A fire halted operations in 1928. St. Mary’s Colony St. Mary's Colony, formerly a black community, is located in the far western corner of Bastrop County, 17 miles west of Bastrop on State Highway 21. The Doyle and Patton families founded the farming community shortly after emancipation when their former owners, George and Mary Doyle, gave them 2,000 acres of land. String Prairie String Prairie is on Highway 304 southwest of Rosanky in southern Bastrop County. A small settlement had sprung up on the site before the Civil War, and in 1886 a String Prairie post office was established. Upton Upton, seven miles south of Bastrop in central Bastrop County, traces its origins to settler J. P. Young’s arrival in the area in 1847. Utley Utley is seven miles northwest of Bastrop. It was established in the early 1850s by pioneer James Harvey Wilbarger as the site of his commissary and trading post for plantations in the area. It was named for Wilbarger’s wife, whose maiden name was Utley.