The Founding of Georgetown Texas
has a great story
The American Indians were the earliest inhabitances of Georgetown.
They lived and hunted
along the
San Gabriel
river long before the Spanish came to Texas. Archeologists find evidence
of their habitation dating back more that 12,000 years.
Early
Georgetown’s pioneers were attracted by the
abundance of inexpensive and fertile land with timber to build homes and
abundant clean water. The first settlers came from Tennessee, Kentucky,
North Carolina, Arkansas, Illinois, and other states. Swedish settlers came
in the 1850s; German, Austrian, and Swiss settlers started arriving in the
1870, Moravian and Czech began arriving after 1880.
(to view photos of these old timers/pioneers
-
click here)
A story relayed
to historians -
Washington Anderson, tells of Georgetown’s beginnings.
Anderson and the four other men assigned the task of locating a
county seat were enjoying a brief respite under a large oak tree,
when Anderson’s cousin and prodigious landowner,
George Washington Glasscock, Sr.,
(view photo) rode up on his mule.
Sensing a quick solution to their task, Anderson spoke up,
“George, if you’ll give us all the land between here and the
San Gabriel River, we’ll make this the county seat and name the
town after you.” His cousin agreed, promptly donating 173 acres,
with his partner
Thomas B. Huling.
Georgetown Texas is the county seat of Williamson County which was formed on
March the 13th in the year of 1848. After the early settlers petitioned the
State Legislature to create it out of Milam County. But for Three-Legged Willie
the county could have been named "San Gabriel" county. It was finally named
after Robert M. Williamson aka
Three-Legged Willie
a Texas statesmen and judge at the time.
