San Gabriel Park
The San Gabriel River’s North and South Forks run straight through the heart of Georgetown. One of the most beautiful parks in Texas may be found on the banks of the San Gabriel River where the two forks meet, between the river and Austin Avenue.
The Texas Recreation & Parks Society designated San Gabriel Park as a Lone Star Legacy Park in March 2012. San Gabriel Park is one of just nine parks in Texas to get this honor in its initial year. These parks were chosen for their historical significance within their towns and the state by providing natural relief and social interaction as those communities were created, flourished, and prospered.
San Gabriel Park is surrounded by 200-year-old oak trees that provide shade for family picnics. The 180-acre park also has areas for concerts and festivals, as well as fields for soccer, football, lacrosse, and baseball.
A hiking and bike route runs through the park, with a 1.6-mile loop in the park and other pieces connecting to Blue Hole Park, Rivery Park, Chautauqua Park, and all the way to Lake Georgetown. View our interactive park and trail map. There is also a 9-hole disc golf course near the park’s northern edge.
Georgetown
Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, in the United States.
The population was 67,176 according to the 2020 census. It lies 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Austin.
Southwestern Institution is Texas’ oldest university, created in 1875 from four previous colleges, the oldest of which was founded 35 years earlier. It is located in Georgetown, about a half mile from the historic square.
Georgetown features a significant collection of Victorian commercial and residential architecture. A local historic ordinance was created in 1976 to recognize and protect the historic core business district’s value. The Williamson County Courthouse Historical District, which included 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 scattered across the city. Georgetown’s Red Poppy Festival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors each year, is held on the historic square in April.
History
Georgetown was named after George Washington Glasscock, who gave the property for the new town. The area’s availability of timber and clean water drew early American and Swedish settlers. Furthermore, the land was both cheap and fertile. Georgetown is the county seat of Williamson County, which was created on March 13, 1848, when early settlers petitioned the state legislature to create it from a piece of Milam County. The county was supposed to be named after Robert McAlpin Williamson (known as “Three-legged Willie”), a Texas statesman and judge at the time.
For most of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Georgetown was an agrarian village. The Shawnee Trail, a cattle trail that connected Texas to rail hubs in Kansas and Missouri, passed through Georgetown. The creation of Southwestern University in 1873 and the construction of a railroad in 1878 both contributed to the town’s expansion and importance. A steady economy emerged, centered primarily on agricultural activity. Cotton was the primary crop in the area between the 1880s and the 1920s. Williamson County was previously Texas’ leading cotton grower during this time period.
Georgetown was once served by two national railroads: the International-Great Northern Railroad, which was subsequently incorporated into the Missouri Pacific, and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. Both facilitated the transportation of commodities to market: beef cattle and cotton. The regional Georgetown and Granger Railroad (GGR) reached Austin in 1904. The Georgetown Railroad, a’short line’ railroad that connects with the Union Pacific Railroad in Round Rock and Granger, serves Georgetown today.
Georgetown was the home of minor league baseball. The Georgetown Collegians began play in the Middle Texas League as original members in 1914.
In 1921, a low-pressure system from a storm landed 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 farm employees. There was also considerable property damage, and Georgetown citizens worked to start flood control.
More than 50 years later, the United States 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 own water rights to Lake Georgetown for municipal usage.
Population growth and industrial expansion remained moderate in the twentieth century until around 1960, when residential, commercial, and industrial development surged due to the surrounding Austin’s rapid growth and urban expansion. In 2008, Fortune Small Business magazine named Georgetown as the second-best location in the US to “live and launch” a new business.
Georgetown stated in March 2015 that their municipal-owned utility, Georgetown Utility Systems, would begin purchasing 100% of its customers’ electricity from wind and solar farms by 2017, essentially making the city 100% green-powered.
Next Point of Interest: Williamson County Courthouse