Berry Springs Park and Preserve
Berry Springs Park and Preserve is located in Williamson County, Texas, near the city of Georgetown. The park is located on farm property with many pecan and oak trees, as well as the waters of Berry Springs, which provide a lake for fresh water fishing. Berry Creek and Dry Berry Creek surround it on two sides.
Activities
Hiking, relaxing in the covered fields, collecting pecans, fishing, camping, letting their children play on the playgrounds or visit the donkeys, and grilling with the family are all options for visitors. Barbecue grills are available beside the well-placed and sturdy picnic tables, as well as in the pavilions. The pavilions are available for rent for a price. There are both rustic and developed campsites accessible. Hikers, bicyclists, and equestrians enjoy the park’s miles of paths, and birders enjoy the park’s various trees and prairie regions. A Nature Trail traverses forest, savanna, and river ecosystems near the park’s northwest edge. The park features clean, modern restrooms as well as ice-cold water fountains.
Berry Springs RV Park and New Life RV Park are both two miles from Berry Springs Park and Preserve.
Georgetown
Georgetown is the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, in the United States.
According to the 2020 census, the population was 67,176. It is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Austin.
Southwestern University is Texas’s oldest university, created in 1875 from four previous institutions, the oldest of which was founded 35 years earlier. It’s roughly a half mile from the historic square in Georgetown.
Georgetown features a significant collection of Victorian commercial and residential architecture. A municipal historic ordinance was created in 1976 to preserve and conserve the historic core business district. The Williamson County Courthouse Historical District, which includes 46 contributing structures, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Georgetown is also known as the “Red Poppy” Capital of Texas due to the abundance of red poppy (Papaver rhoeas) wildflowers that have been planted across the city. Georgetown’s Red Poppy Festival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors each year, takes place on the historic square in April.
History
George Washington Glasscock, who gave the land for the new town, was honored with the name Georgetown. The area’s availability of timber and clean, clear water drew early American and Swedish settlers. Furthermore, the land was cheap and fertile. Georgetown is the county seat of Williamson County, which was established on March 13, 1848, when early settlers petitioned the state legislature to separate it from Milam County. Originally named San Gabriel County, the county was renamed after Robert McAlpin Williamson (nicknamed “Three-legged Willie”), a Texas statesman and judge at the time.
For the majority of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Georgetown was an agrarian village. The Cullen Building on the campus of Southwestern University shortly after completion (c. 1900). Georgetown was passed by the Shawnee Road, a cattle trail that connected Texas to rail hubs in Kansas and Missouri. The creation of Southwestern University in 1873, as well as the construction of a railroad in 1878, aided the town’s expansion and importance. A steady economy based primarily on agricultural activity emerged. Between the 1880s and the 1920s, cotton was the primary crop in the area. Williamson County was previously the leading cotton producer in Texas during this time period.
Georgetown was once served by two national railroads: the International-Great Northern Railroad (later absorbed into the Missouri Pacific) and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. Both aided in the transportation of commodities to market, namely beef cattle and cotton. In 1904 the regional Georgetown and Granger Railroad (GGR) reached Austin. Georgetown is now served by the Georgetown Railroad, a’short line’ railroad that connects with the Union Pacific Railroad at Round Rock and Granger via the former M-K-T and I-GN.
Minor league baseball was played in Georgetown. The Georgetown Collegians joined the Middle Texas League as original members in 1914.
In 1921, a hurricane-caused low-pressure system descended over Williamson County, dumping more than 23 inches of rain in Taylor and more than 18 inches in Georgetown. The deluge killed 156 people, many of them were farm employees. There was also significant property damage, and Georgetown citizens worked to start flood control.
More than 50 years later, the US Army Corps of Engineers finished construction of a dam on the north fork of the San Gabriel River to create and impound Lake Georgetown, which officially opened on October 5, 1979.
Both Georgetown and Round Rock have municipal water rights to Lake Georgetown.
Population growth and industrial expansion were modest in the twentieth century until around 1960, when residential, commercial, and industrial development increased due to adjacent Austin’s rapid growth and urban expansion. Fortune Small Business magazine named Georgetown the second-best location in the US to “live and launch” a new business in 2008.
Georgetown stated in March 2015 that their municipal-owned utility, Georgetown Utility Systems, would begin purchasing 100% of its customers’ power from wind and solar farms by 2017, essentially making the city 100% green-powered.
Next Point of Interest: San Gabriel Park