Lytton Springs is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in northeastern Caldwell County,

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 ...

, United States. According to the

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President Wal ...

, the community had a population of 500 in 2000. It is located within the

Greater Austin The Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metropolitan statistical area (or Greater Austin) is a five-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Texas, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The metropolitan area is situated in Ce ...

metropolitan area.

History

The community was originally called Albade in the 1850s when it first began to be settled. Its post office was called Albade and was established in 1859. It was viewed as somewhat scattered. The nearby Lytton Springs caused the community to be called this in the early 1860s and was officially changed to that name in 1888. There was a

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

that was powered by steam, a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church, and a general store in the mid-1880s. Most of the community's early settlers raised

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

Ranching A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

gave way to cotton in the 1900s, but it was revived in 1930 as an important economic value. Oil was discovered in the community in 1925, but only a few wells were producing it in the 1940s. The post office closed in 1958 and mail was sent to the community from Dale. On the 1989 county highway map, there were three churches, two cemeteries, and only one business in Lytton Springs. The community had 125 inhabitants in the mid-1880s. It then grew to 300 by the 1890s. 131 people were living in the community in 1900 and grew to 200 by the 1920s. It fell to 116 by the 1960s. It then had 76 inhabitants in the early 1970s and stayed at that number through 1990. The population then grew dramatically to 500 in 2000. When

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...

hit Texas in 2017, a vehicle had to be abandoned before it was swept away by a flood. In December 2016, two men committed a murder-suicide in Lytton Springs.

Geography

Lytton Springs stands along Farm to Market Road 1854, ten miles northeast of

Lockhart Lockhart may refer to: *Lockhart (surname) Places Australia *Lockhart, New South Wales *Lockhart River, Queensland *Lockhart River, Western Australia United States *Lockhart, Alabama *Lockhart, Florida *Lockhart, Minnesota *Lockhart, Sout ...

in northeastern Caldwell County.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Lytton Springs has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Education

Lytton Springs had a school in the mid-1880s. Today the community is served by the

Lockhart Independent School District The Lockhart Independent School District is a public school district based in Lockhart, Texas. In addition to Lockhart, the district also serves the portions of Mustang Ridge, Niederwald, and Pettytown in Caldwell County, as well as the unincor ...

. In fall 2016, a new elementary school, Alma Brewer Strawn Elementary School, was opened in Lytton Springs. It was named for a respected staff member named Alma Brewer Strawn who taught in the district and retired before the campus opened. The district then organized an attendance zone map for its elementary school students, who originally were assigned a school to attend. It is the first campus to be built outside of the

city limits and teaches grades PK–5, while the elementary schools in Lockhart now teach K-5 and Carver Kindergarten School, now George W. Carver Early Childhood Academy, teaches only

Pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

.Lockhart ISD
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References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Caldwell County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas

History

Geography

Climate

Education

See also

References