TIMELINE

Prehistoric era

 Georgetown has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC, and maybe much earlier. The Clovis civilization, a Paleo-Indian culture marked by the fabrication of characteristic “Clovis points” for weapons, can be attributed to the first known inhabitants of the county, who lived during the late Pleistocene (Ice Age). It first appeared towards the conclusion of the last glacial epoch, around 9200 BC, and potentially as early as 11,500 BC.

Because of its age and proximity to the surrounding hamlet of Leander, Texas, the ancient skeleton remains called the “Leanderthal Lady” have become one of the most noteworthy recent discoveries. Workers from the Texas Department of Transportation were drilling core samples for a new roadway when they accidentally discovered the site southwest of Georgetown.

The site has been investigated intensively for many years, and carbon dating has dated the finds to the Pleistocene epoch, some 10,500 years ago (8500 BC). Archeological excavation sites in charred rock middens along the San Gabriel River, which have since been drowned by the constructed Granger Lake, and at the junction of the North and South San Gabriel rivers in Georgetown have revealed much more evidence of Archaic period residents.

Early history

The Tonkawa, the county’s first known historical occupants, were a flint-working, buffalo-hunting tribe who chased buffalo on foot and set fire to the grassland to aid them in their hunts. They transitioned to a horse culture in the 18th century, and only used guns sparingly. Also, at the time of the initial Anglo settlements, a small number of Kiowa, Yojuane, Tawakoni, and Mayeye Indians were reportedly living in the county. The Comanche raided native peoples’ communities in the county until the 1860s, when these native populations dwindled due to pressure from non-indigenous colonists.

Modern history

George Washington Glasscock, who provided the land for the new town, was given the name Georgetown. The area’s availability of timber and clean, clearwater drew early American and Swedish settlers. Furthermore, the land was both cheap and fertile. Georgetown is the county seat of Williamson County, which was established on March 13, 1848, after early settlers petitioned the state legislature to split Milam County into two. San Gabriel County was originally planned to be named after Robert McAlpin Williamson (also known as “Three-legged Willie”), a Texas politician and judge at the time.

For most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Georgetown was an agrarian village. The Cullen Building on the campus of Southwestern University shortly after completion (about 1900). Georgetown was passed by the Shawnee Track, a cattle trail that ran from Texas to rail hubs in Kansas and Missouri. The town’s expansion and importance were aided by the creation of Southwestern University in 1873 and the installation of a railroad in 1878. A steady economy based primarily on agricultural activity emerged. Between the 1880s and the 1920s, cotton was the most important crop in the area. Williamson County was previously the leading cotton producer in Texas during this time period.

The International-Great Northern Railroad, which was subsequently absorbed into the Missouri Pacific, and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad both served Georgetown at one time. Both aided in the delivery of commodities to market, such as beef cattle and cotton. In 1904, the regional Georgetown and Granger Railroad (GGR) reached Austin. The Georgetown Railroad, a ‘short line’ railroad that uses portions of the former M-K-T and I-GN to link with the Union Pacific Railroad at Round Rock and Granger, serves Georgetown today. 

Minor league baseball was played in Georgetown. The Georgetown Collegians joined the Middle Texas League in 1914 as founder members of Class D.

In 1921, a hurricane’s low-pressure system landed over Williamson County, dumping more than 23 inches of rain in Taylor and more than 18 inches in Georgetown. 156 people died as a result of the flooding, many of whom were farm labourers. Property damage was also substantial, prompting Georgetown to seek flood control.

 More than 50 years later, on the north fork of the San Gabriel River, the city/county (state?) completed construction of a dam to create and impound Lake Georgetown, which was opened on October 5,1979.Both Georgetown and Round Rock have municipal water rights to Lake Georgetown.

In the twentieth century, population growth and industrial expansion were moderate until around 1960, when, because of the massive growth and urban expansion of adjacent Austin, residential, commercial, and industrial development increased dramatically. Georgetown was named the second-best city in the country to “live and launch” a new business by Fortune Small Business magazine in 2008.

Georgetown stated in March 2015 that by 2017, their municipally owned utility, Georgetown Utility Systems, would be purchasing 100 percent of its power from wind and solar farms, essentially making the city 100 percent green-powered.

On “The Square,” typical downtown Georgetown structures

House of Burkland-Frisk

In 2006, this “pattern book” house from 1900–1910 was relocated to Georgetown from Round Rock, Texas. It has a great view of the South San Gabriel River.

In Round Rock, Texas, a highly overgrown 1908–1910 Victorian mansion was discovered. (The property was later renovated for the project La Frontera.) In 2006, the historic home was dismantled and relocated to Georgetown. Don Martin and Bill Smalling (1953–2008) renovated it there. It is now used as an office and is located on San Gabriel Village Blvd, with a magnificent view of the South San Gabriel River. It was erected by Leonard Frisk, an early settler in Williamson County, and afterwards owned by Tony Burkland, a relative, and is known locally as the Burkland-Frisk House.

This house was built in the same era as an identical house across the street in Round Rock. The Texas ChainSaw Massacre was filmed using the latter. The dwellings were known as “pattern book” houses because they were ordered from a catalogue and erected on location with components delivered by waggon from a local lumber company. Between 1908 and 1910, they were most likely constructed.The house that was filmed was later cut and relocated to Kingsland, Texas. It was redeveloped as part of the Antlers Hotel in that location.

Historic neighborhoods

Georgetown’s downtown was gloomy and featureless in the 1970s. Building owners in the 1950s and 1960s hid some of their most unique resources – their ancient retail structures – in an effort to modernise and compete with suburban retail development. Stucco, metal covers, brick, and many coats of white paint were used to hide the Texas-Victorian streetscape. Community leaders began to examine the city’s retail stock and collaborate with the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street programme to improve the city’s architectural legacy.

As the cost of borrowing money rose at this time, economics began to favour the reuse of historic buildings. Every bank in Georgetown offered far cheaper rate loans for the restoration of the town’s beautiful Victorian buildings and facades. Investing in historic property became more profitable in the 1980s because of tax credit programmes for rehabilitation. By the year 1984, 40 rehabilitations had been completed. More than half of the Main Street district had undergone some form of beneficial transition two years after Georgetown launched its Main Street programme.

Recently, the city was voted one of the greatest areas to buy a historic home. The Beaux-Arts Williamson County Courthouse (1911) is the centrepiece of one of the best-preserved Victorian and pre-WWII downtown historic districts in the country. Georgetown was dubbed a national Main Street City in 1997, the first in Texas, for its outstanding preservation efforts. [22] Three historic districts in Georgetown are listed on the National Register of Historic Places:

• Williamson County Courthouse Historic District
• Belford National District
• The University Avenue/Elm Street District