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History · Round Top

Round Top’s post office opened in 1846, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Cummins Creek Bridge and the Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1958 on, and the census since 1890.

1846first post office
2on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Round Top’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Round Top began

When was Round Top founded?

1846

The Round Top post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 238 in 18902020 census: 87180 years
Founding year: the first Round Top post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Round Top’s past

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

Deep rootsA post office since 1846: 180 years of Round Top.Mystery photos5 old photos have no date. Neighbors can guess the decade.
Help out

Start Round Top’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Round Top’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo5 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMoore's Fort in: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Round Top came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Round Top.

Read it all →

As a part of the Stephen F. Austin colony, James Winn acquired 4,428 acres (17.9 km2; 6.9 sq mi) in 1831; the present townsite was included in this tract. The community was originally known as "Townsend", after early settler Nathaniel Townsend (whose original house still exists as the Texana Lodge). Later the town was renamed "Round Top", since the postmaster lived in a house with a round tower. Portions of Nassau Plantation were purchased by the Adelsverein, and settlement by German immigrants began 1845 to 1847; these settlers began buying up the local farms and the town lots.

The Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Round Top is the oldest active Lutheran church in Fayette County, and the oldest Lutheran church sanctuary in Texas.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Round Top, decade by decade

Date unknown5 to date
Moore's Fort inDate?Moore's Fort inFerdinand Kneip HouseDate?Ferdinand Kneip HouseBethlehem Lutheran Church, White StreetDate?Bethlehem Lutheran Church, White StreetWantke-Pochmann House, White & Third StreetsDate?Wantke-Pochmann House, White & Third StreetsCarl Wilhelm Rummel House, First StreetDate?Carl Wilhelm Rummel House, First Street
Today6 recent
Bridge2014BridgeBethlehem Lutheran Cemetary2014Bethlehem Lutheran CemetaryRound top marker 20132013Round top marker 2013Royers2011RoyersRound Top Historic Library2011Round Top Historic LibraryInternational Festival-Institute2007International Festival-Institute
On the map

Round Top on the map, 1958 to 1993

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

Round Top on the 1958 USGS mapRound Top on the 1989 USGS mapRound Top on the 1993 USGS map1958Round Top sheet · 1:24,000

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

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.

Moore's Fort in
Retake this viewMoore's Fort in

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Round Top

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Cummins Creek Bridge
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Through truss bridge1
Cummins Creek BridgeThrough truss bridge
Bethlehem Lutheran ChurchBuilding

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

People over time

Round Top, census by census

01002001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 238

Between 77 and 238 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Questions about Round Top’s history

What year was Round Top founded?

The Round Top post office opened in 1846, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Round Top?

Two places: the Cummins Creek Bridge (listed 1975) and the Bethlehem Lutheran Church (1978).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (7), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.