Burnet County ( ) is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

located on the

Edwards Plateau The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region at the crossroads of Central Texas, Central, South Texas, South, and West Texas. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,130. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

is Burnet. The county was founded in 1852 and later organized in 1854. It is named for David Gouverneur Burnet, the first (provisional) president of the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

. The name of the county is pronounced with the emphasis or accent on the first syllable, just as is the case with its namesake.

History

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

inhabited the area as early as 4500 BC. Later known tribes in the area include

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe indigenous to present-day Oklahoma. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the federally recognized Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. ...

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...

, and

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

. During the 1820s-1830s,

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

and

Green DeWitt Green DeWitt (February 12, 1787 – May 18, 1835) was an empresario in Mexican Texas. He brought families from the United States to what is now South-central Texas and founded the DeWitt Colony. Missouri Green Dewitt was elected as the first Ralls ...

conducted surveying and Indian-fighting explorations. In 1849, the United States established

Fort Croghan Fort Croghan was the third of the first four forts established by the United States government to protect settlers from hostile Indians along the Texas frontier. From its establishment on March 18, 1849, by Lt. C.H. Taylor (Company A, Second Dra ...

, and in 1848, the first settlers arrived in the county, Samuel Eli Holland, Logan Vandeveer, Peter Kerr, William Harrison Magill,

Noah Smithwick Noah Smithwick (January 01, 1808October 21, 1899) was a colonist who lived in Texas from 1827 and until the Civil War began. A gunsmith and blacksmith, he fought in the Texas Revolution and served as a Texas Ranger. Late in life he dictated his r ...

, Captain Jesse B. Burnham, R. H. Hall, Adam Rankin "Stovepipe" Johnson, and Captain Christian Dorbandt. In 1851, 20

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

families under the leadership of

Lyman Wight Lyman Wight (May 9, 1796 – March 31, 1858) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the leader of the Latter Day Saints in Daviess County, Missouri, in 1838. In 1841, he was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apost ...

establish a colony at Hamilton Creek, later to be known as Morman Mill. In 1852, the Fourth Texas Legislature created Burnet County from

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

, Travis, and Williamson Counties. The first post office was established at Hamilton in 1853. In 1860, 235 slaves were in Burnet County. After the war, some former slaves left the county, but many stayed. A group of them settled on land in the eastern part of Oatmeal. In 1870, the black population of the county had increased to 358, keeping pace with the growth of the total number of residents; the number of blacks had fallen to 248 by 1880, however, and the number of new white residents was such that after 1890, blacks represented less than 3% of the total population. Some found work on farms and ranches, but by the turn of the century, many had moved into the Marble Falls area to work in town. During 1882–1903, railroad tracks connected Burnet, Granite Mountain, Marble Falls, and

Lampasas Lampasas ( ) is a city in Lampasas County, Texas, United States. Its population was 7,291 at the 2020 census. It is the seat of Lampasas County. Lampasas is part of the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood metropolitan statistical area. History ...

Lake Victor Lake Victor is an unincorporated community in Burnet County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 215 in 2000. History The Houston and Texas Central Railway laid a track through t ...

and Bertram became shipping-point communities. Other communities lost population as the railroad offered employment. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, county farmers suffered financially, but found work with government-sponsored public-works projects. The

Lower Colorado River Authority The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is a nonprofit public utility created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. LCRA's mission is to enhance the lives of the Texans it serves through water stewardship, energy and community service. LCR ...

employed hundreds of people for the construction of the Hamilton (Buchanan) Dam and Roy B. Inks Dam.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has a total area of , of which are land and (2.6%) are covered by water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 183 U.S. Route 183 (US 183) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with Interstate 90. Its southern terminus is in Refugio, Texas, at the southern intersection ...

U.S. Highway 281 U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. At it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route. The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, at t ...

* State Highway 29

Adjacent counties

* Lampasas County (north) * Bell County (northeast) * Williamson County (east) *

Travis County Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is na ...

(southeast) * Blanco County (south) *

Llano County Llano County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,243. Its county seat is Llano, and the county is named for the Llano River. During the American Civil War, the c ...

(west) * San Saba County (northwest)

National protected area

Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge Balcones Canyonlands is a national wildlife refuge located in the Texas Hill Country to the northwest of Lago Vista, Texas. The refuge was formed in 1992 to conserve habitat for two endangered songbirds, the golden-cheeked warbler and the black ...

(part)

Demographics

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2020, there were 49,130 people and 16,743 households residing in the county. (The remaining data that follows in this section is outdated. The Census 2020 data for the following demographics have not yet been released.) The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 34 people/sq mi (13/km²). The 15,933 housing units averaged 16/sq mi (6/km²). The

racial makeup A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...

of the county was 89.64% White, 1.52% African American, 0.68% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 6.30% from other races, and 1.58% from two or more races. About 14.77% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 16,743 households, 30.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.50% were married couples living together, 8.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were not families. About 22.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53, and the average family size was 2.94. In the county, the age distribution was 24.50% under 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.90% who were 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $37,921, and for a family was $43,871. Males had a median income of $30,255 versus $20,908 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $18,850. About 7.90% of families and 10.90% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 14.50% of those under age 18 and 7.90% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Bertram * Burnet (county seat) * Cottonwood Shores *

Double Horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

* Granite Shoals * Highland Haven * Horseshoe Bay (mostly in

) * Marble Falls * Meadowlakes

Unincorporated communities

* Fairland * Joppa *

* Mahomet * Naruna * Oakalla *

Oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground) or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are ...

* Sherwood Shores * Shovel Mountain * Silver Creek Village * Smithwick *

Spicewood Spicewood is an unincorporated community in Travis County and partially in Burnet County, Texas, United States. According to the Texas Almanac, the community had an estimated population of 2,000 in 2000. But in the 2011 census, the community had a ...

Watson Watson may refer to: Companies * Actavis, a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals * A.S. Watson Group, retail division of Hutchison Whampoa * Thomas J. Watson Research Center, IBM research center * Watson Systems, make ...

Notable people

* Adam R. "Stovepipe" Johnson, Confederate general and the 1887 founder of Marble Falls, despite being blinded during the war. *

Gerald Lyda er 14, 2005) was an American cattle rancher, contractor and developer prominent in the state of Texas. Lyda was reared in Burnet County at the edge of the Texas Hill Country in Central Texas. His grandfather was Gideon Paloris Lyda who worked a ...

(1923–2005), general contractor and cattle rancher, born and raised in Burnet County. *

Stephen McGee Stephen Richard McGee (born September 27, 1985) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was ...

(born September 27, 1985), former American football quarterback. Played college football for Texas A&M. Drafted and played NFL football for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. * James Oakley, former County Commissioner (1998–2005) and County Judge (2015–Present) * Logan Vandeveer, early Texas soldier, ranger, cattleman and civic leader. Vandeveer was a leader in presenting the petition to the legislature in 1852 to establish Burnet County and was instrumental in having the town of Burnet named the county seat. *

Al Witcher Thomas Albert Witcher (born September 28, 1936) is a former American football linebacker who played one season with the Houston Oilers of the American Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the thirteenth round of the 1 ...

(born 1936), American football player

Politics

References

External links

Burnet County government’s website

Burnet County tourism office
*
Burnet County TXGenWeb Project

Burnet Bulletin newspaper

The Highlander newspaper
{{coord, 30.78, -98.18, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990 1854 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1854 Texas Hill Country