News Details (Posted: April 9, 2008):

The History of Georgetown

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Georgetown, the county seat of Williamson County, was founded in 1848 at the fork of the San Gabriel River. The town was named for George Washington Glasscock who donated the land for the new town. Early pioneers were attracted to the area's abundance of timber and good, clear water, just as the Tonkawa Indians, who thrived in the area for many years. In addition, the land was inexpensive and extremely fertile.

Georgetown remained an agrarian community for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The establishment of Southwestern University in 1873 and construction of a railroad in 1878 contributed to the town's growth and importance. A stable economy was based largely on agriculture, mainly cotton. The Chisholm Trail, a cattle trail that led from Texas to the railcenters in Kansas and Missouri crossed through the heart of Georgetown.

Cotton production became dominant in the area from the 1880s through the 1920s. The Georgetown and Granger Railroad (GGR) was completed to Austin in 1904. Extensive loss from a 1921 flood led Georgetown to seek flood control, an effort that culminated in the building of a dam to impound Lake Georgetown, which opened officially on October 5, 1979. An unlicensed radio station appeared briefly in the 1930s, and Radio Station KGTN opened in 1962. At one time, Georgetown was served by two railroads, the International-Great Northern, which eventually was merged into the Missouri Pacific, and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railway. Currently, Georgetown is served by the appropriately named Georgetown Railroad, a 'short line' railroad that uses portions of the former M-K-T and the I-GN to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad at Round Rock and at Granger.

Population growth and industrial expansion continued modestly in the twentieth century until about 1960, when residential, commercial, and industrial development greatly accelerated. Since then adaptive restoration has been widely practiced, with special emphasis on a Main Street program and private restoration of older homes. Today, Georgetown is home to one of the best preserved Victorian and Pre-WW1 downtown historic districts, with The Beaux-Arts Williamson County Courthouse (1911) as its centerpiece. Due to its successful preservation efforts, Georgetown was named a national Main Street City in 1997, the first Texas city so designated. In 1998, the city celebrated its 150th birthday with numerous community activities and parties. By 2000, Georgetown and Williamson County experienced tremendous growth, doubling the population.