Bastrop County, Texas

Bastrop County, Texas
The Bastrop County Courthouse in Bastrop is designed in classical revival style. Built in 1883, the Courthouse and Jail Complex were listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 1975.
Location in the state of Texas
Texas's location in the U.S.
Founded	1836
Named for	Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop
Seat	Bastrop
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	896 sq mi (2,320 km²) 888 sq mi (2,301 km²) 8 sq mi (20 km²), 0.84%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	71,700 80.7/sq mi (31.2/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5

Closeup view of the Bastrop County Courthouse, located across from the Roman Catholic Church in Bastrop

Obelisk commemorating Bastrop County soldiers in the army of the Confederate States of America is located on the courthouse grounds.

Veterans Memorial at Bastrop County Courthouse

The Bastrop County Historical Museum in Bastrop periodically changes its exhibits.

Bastrop County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2006, the population was 71,700. Its county seat is Bastrop^[1]. Bastrop County is named for Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop (he was actually a commoner named Philip Hendrik Nering Bogel wanted for embezzlement in his native country of the Netherlands), an early Dutch settler who assisted Stephen F. Austin in obtaining land grants in Texas. (See List of Texas county name etymologies.)

In September 2011 Bastrop County suffered the most destructive wildfire in Texas history, which destroyed over 1,600 homes.

Boundary Changes

From January 8, 1836 to December 13, 1837, the Municipality and County of Mina consisted of parts of present day Mason, Kimble, Llano, Burnet, Williamson, Gillespie, Blanco, Comal, Hays, Travis, Caldwell, Bastrop, Lee, Gonzales, Fayette, Washington, and Lavaca counties. On December 14, 1837, the Second Congress of the Republic of Texas passed legislation changing the geographical limits, creating Fayette County, removing Gonzales and Caldwell Counties from the boundaries and, five months later, added parts of Kimble and Comal Counties. On December 18, 1837, Sam Houston signed an act incorporating the town of Mina and, on the same day, changing the name of the county and town of Mina to Bastrop. May 24, 1838 to January 24, 1840, shows the borders of Bastrop County to contain parts of present day Blanco, Burnet, Williamson, Travis, Hays, Comal, Caldwell, Bastrop, Lee, Gonzales and Fayette counties. From January 25, 1840 to January 25, 1850 the border changed to almost its present size with a small portion of Lee, Williamson, Caldwell, Gonzales and Fayette counties included. TxGenWeb^[2]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 896 square miles (2,320.6 km²), of which 888 square miles (2,299.9 km²) is land and 8 square miles (20.7 km²) (0.84%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 290
• State Highway 21
• State Highway 71
• State Highway 95
• State Highway 304

Adjacent counties

• Williamson County (north)
• Lee County (northeast)
• Fayette County (southeast)
• Caldwell County (southwest)
• Travis County (northwest)

Demographics

As of the census^[3] of 2000, there were 57,733 people, 20,097 households, and 14,771 families residing in the county. The population density was 65 people per square mile (25/km²). There were 22,254 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile (10/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 80.24% White, 8.79% Black or African American, 0.70% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 7.60% from other races, and 2.15% from two or more races. 23.98% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 20,097 households out of which 35.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.50% were married couples living together, 10.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.50% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.00% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 31.30% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 10.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 105.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $43,578, and the median income for a family was $49,456. Males had a median income of $32,843 versus $25,536 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,146. About 8.40% of families and 11.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.40% of those under age 18 and 13.30% of those age 65 or over.

Historical Research

Bastrop County has several societies and associations dedicated to preserving historical information and sites.

Communities

Cities

• Bastrop
• Elgin
• Smithville

Census-designated places

• Camp Swift
• Circle D-KC Estates
• Wyldwood

Unincorporated areas/Historical Communities

• Alum Creek
• Bateman
• Butler
• Cedar Creek
• Colorado
• Dixon Prairie
• Hemphill Prairie
• Jeddo
• Jenkins Prairie
• Jorden
• McDade
• Kovar
• Paige
• Red Rock
• Rockne
• Rosanky
• Ship's Lake
• Togo
• Utley
• Upton

Education

The following school districts serve Bastrop County:

• Bastrop Independent School District
• Elgin Independent School District (partial)
• McDade Independent School District
• Smithville Independent School District (partial)

Transportation

As of 2010 Central Texas Airport is under development in Bastrop County.^[4]

Miscellaneous topics

Recreational facilities

• Bastrop State Park
• Buescher State Park

Filmography

Several Hollywood feature films and notable independent films have used locations in Bastrop County.

Year	Film	Top Billed Cast	Location
1974	Lovin' Molly	Anthony Perkins, Blythe Danner	Bastrop
1974	The Texas Chain Saw Massacre	Marilyn Burns, Allen Danzinger	Bastrop (Gas Station and BBQ Shack)
1975	The Great Waldo Pepper	Robert Redford, Bo Svenson	Elgin
1994	Love and a .45	Gil Bellows, Renée Zellweger	Bastrop (Gas station)
1995	The Big Green	Steve Guttenberg, Olivia d'Abo	Elgin
1996	Courage Under Fire	Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan	Bastrop
1996	The Whole Wide World	Vincent D'Onofrio, Renée Zellweger	Bastrop
1997	The Only Thrill	Diane Keaton, Sam Shepard	Bastrop
1998	The Dentist 2	Corbin Bernsen, Jillian McWhirter	Smithville
1998	Home Fries	Drew Barrymore, Luke Wilson	Bastrop
1998	Hope Floats	Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr.	Smithville
1999	Varsity Blues	James Van Der Beek, Amy Smart	Elgin
1999	The Soul Collector	Bruce Greenwood, Melissa Gilbert	Bastrop
2004	Friday Night Lights	Billy Bob Thornton, Lucas Black	Elgin
2004	The Alamo	Dennis Quaid, Billy Bob Thornton	Bastrop Jim Small's Big Thicket (Lake camp scenes) Steiner Ranch (Bexar & Alamo scenes)
2006	All the Boys Love Mandy Lane	Amber Heard, Anson Mount	Bastrop
2008	Fireflies in the Garden	Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds	Bastrop (T. A. Hasler House) Smithville
2009	The Tree of Life	Brad Pitt, Sean Penn	Smithville
2009	Friday the 13th (2009 film)	Jared Padalecki, Derek Mears	Camp
2010	Bernie	Matthew McConaughey, Jack Black	Bastrop Smithville

See also

Austin portal

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Bastrop County, Texas

References

1. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
2. ^ "TxGenWeb". http://www.txgenweb8.org/txbastrop/. Retrieved 6 March 2011. 
3. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
4. ^ "New corporate center, airport announced." KXAN. Tuesday October 19, 2010. Retrieved on November 5, 2010.

External links

• Bastrop County website
• Bastrop County from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Bastrop County TxGenWeb website

Coordinates: 30°06′N 97°19′W / 30.10°N 97.31°W / 30.10; -97.31