History · Bastrop

Bastrop’s post office opened in 1837, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns · #8 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

94 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Bastrop State Park, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 17 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.

1837first post office

94on the National Register

13%homes built before 1940

6old photos & papers

7famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Bastrop’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Bastrop began

When was Bastrop founded?

1837

The Bastrop post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,107 in 18602020 census: 9,688189 years

How historic is Bastrop?

More historic than 87% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Bastrop post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Bastrop’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bastrop is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #8 of 642 in Texas. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bastrop’s overall grade.

Founding era1837, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194012.6% of homes (±5.4) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%B⁻National Register94 listings, 144 historic buildings, 129 per 10,000 residents · typical TX town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 87%

NewerOlder

Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)#8 of 642

Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bastrop’s 129 sits above most of its state (97% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 144 historic buildings outnumber those of 91% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Bastrop’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A National Historic Landmark94 places on the National Register, including Bastrop State Park, a National Historic Landmark.Mapped building by building7 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1921, drew every building in Bastrop.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Bastrop.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

94 historic places in Bastrop

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed

National Historic Landmark

Bastrop State Park

historic buildings protected

144

each building in a district counts

first listed

1971

Allen-Bell House

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Victorian45

Greek Revival17

Neo-Classical Revival7

Prairie School5

Pioneer Anglo3

Symmetrical Victorian2

★ Landmark

Bastrop State ParkBungalow/Craftsman · Built 1935

Allen-Bell HouseGreek Revival

Bastrop County Courthouse and Jail ComplexVictorian

Crocheron-McDowall HouseGreek Revival

A. A. Erhard HouseGreek Revival

Adolph A. Erhard HouseVictorian

Alf Griesenbeck HouseNeo-Classical Revival

Alf Jung HouseVictorian

All 94 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Every building

Bastrop, building by building, 1885–1921

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Bastrop fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 1

1885Sheet 1 of 1

Edition

Sheets

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Bastrop, 1837 to 1997

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1837Post officeThe Bastrop post office opens
1856In the archiveImportant to Slave Owners - Slave hunting dogs
1864Born hereRobert Lynn Batts is born here
1875Born hereC. Pope Caldwell is born here
1887In the archiveOld map-Bastrop-1887
20th century
1903Born hereRoosevelt Williams is born here
1929Born hereBilly Waugh is born here
1935BuiltBastrop State Park is built
1941In the archiveBastrop TX - 360,000 Gal. Oval Swimming Pool, "In the Lost Pine Forest," Bastrop State Pa…
1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1997LandmarkBastrop State Park named a National Historic Landmark

The story

How Bastrop came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bastrop.

Read it all →

Spanish soldiers lived temporarily at the current site of Bastrop as early as 1804, when a fort was established where the Old San Antonio Road crossed the Colorado River and named Puesta del Colorado.

Bastrop's namesake, Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop, was a commoner named Philip Hendrik Nering Bogel, who was wanted for embezzlement in his native country of the Netherlands. In Texas, he assisted Moses and Stephen F. Austin in obtaining land grants in Texas and served as Austin's land commissioner. In 1827, Austin located about 100 families in an area adjacent to his earlier Mexican contracts. Austin arranged for Mexican officials to name a new town there after the baron who died the same year.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Bastrop in 1893

Passages that mention Bastrop, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Jonathan l>mdeson, father of our subject, came to Texas in 1830, in company with his brotlier. General Edward Burleson, d’hey located where the town of Bastrop now stands, and at that time only three or four families lived between a settlement fifteen miles up the river to the first settlement ten … — **History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties**1893Read the page →
Read the text
Jonathan l>mdeson, father of our subject, came to Texas in 1830, in company with his brotlier. General Edward Burleson, d’hey located where the town of Bastrop now stands, and at that time only three or four families lived between a settlement fifteen miles up the river to the first settlement ten miles down the river. General Edward Burleson
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

**History of Texas, together with a biographical history of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson counties**1893Read the page →
Read the text
New York, and North Carolina. The father moved from the latter State to Texas, via New Orleans and Galveston, and from Galveston came by team to Bastrop county, locating in the town of Bastrop, which at that time contained oidy a few houses. Mr.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Bastrop, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1880s2 items

1856Important to Slave Owners - Slave hunting dogs

1887Old map-Bastrop-1887Map

1890s–1930snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

1940s4 items

Bastrop TX - 360,000 Gal. Oval Swimming Pool, "In the Lost Pine Forest," Bastrop State Park (NBY 431444)

1941Bastrop TX - 360,000 Gal. Oval Swimming Pool, "In the…Postcard

Bastrop TX - 360,000 Gal. Oval Swimming Pool, "In the Lost Pine Forest," Bastrop State Park (NBY 431445)

1941Bastrop TX - 360,000 Gal. Oval Swimming Pool, "In the…Postcard

Bastrop TX - Bastrop State Park, "The Lost Pines of Texas." (NBY 430671)

1941Bastrop TX - Bastrop State Park, "The Lost Pines of T…Postcard

Bastrop TX - Bastrop State Park, "The Lost Pines of Texas." (NBY 430672)

1941Bastrop TX - Bastrop State Park, "The Lost Pines of T…Postcard

1950s–1990snothing yet

Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Add from your album

On the map

Bastrop on the map, 1948 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bastrop. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1948Bastrop sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bastrop.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewImportant to Slave Owners - Slave hunting dogs, 1856

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bastrop’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Bastrop, census by census

Grew from 1,107 people in 1860 to 9,688 in 2020, 8 times over.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bastrop’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Bastrop

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

C. Pope CaldwellAmerican politician · b. 1875

Billy WaughUnited States Army soldier and CIA officer · b. 1929

Robert Lynn BattsUnited States federal judge · b. 1864

Roosevelt WilliamsAfrican American blues pianist · b. 1903

Louis Edwin Fry Sr.American architect · b. 1903

Lovie YanceyAmerican businessman · b. 1912

Help out

Finish Bastrop’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewImportant to Slave Owners - Slave hunti…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Bastrop’s history

What year was Bastrop founded?

The Bastrop post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Bastrop rank for history?

Bastrop is more historic than 87% of U.S. towns, #8 of 642 in Texas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Bastrop?

94 listings: 91 buildings, among them the Allen-Bell House (listed 1971, the first), 1 historic district, the Bastrop State Park, with 17 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 144 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Bastrop?

13% of Bastrop’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 2000.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (94), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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