Burnet, Texas (unnamed copyrighting)

Burnet, Texas is a town right with history, some of which could be taken directly from the pages of a classic western novel. While being a relatively small town with a population of only 5000 people, it is nonetheless a town with heritage and a community of people who are very proud of that history.

Burnet, Texas was not always Burnet, Texas. In fact, it didn't start out as a town at all. In 1847 a division of the Texas Rangers set up shop in what would later become Burnet Texas and established a station for the sole purpose of protecting local settlers from outlaws and Indians. The station found no small level of success and as a result, in 1849 it was selected to become a federal fort and was named Fort Croghan.

In 1852, and surrounding area was gaining new settlers and numerous small towns were popping up, so they established the area as a county, and named it Burnet. When the county was established, a town was created at Fort Croghan, named Hamilton, after John Hamilton, a local landowner and employer. Later that year a post office was established in town and shortly thereafter became the county courthouse.

Hamilton continued to prosper and grow, but in 1857, a group of residents began to petition for a name change. They did not like the fact that there was another town in Texas also named Hamilton and felt straight, and felt that the town should be named Burnet as well, in honor of David G. Burnet, the first provisional President of the Republic of Texas. In 1859, the Austin in Northwest railroad set Burnet as the railhead to the area to the west, and the population skyrocketed because of this. Burnet continued to grow steadily until 1892 when the railhead was moved farther west to Llano. From this point onward, Burnet would be a farming and livestock center, and the population would decline until reaching the steady level it is at today.

Burnett has other claims to fame as well. Three miles outside of the city is a marble quarry that was owned by Samuel E. Holland. A large block of the marble from his quarry was shipped to Austin as a gift and was later sent to Washington DC, where became one of the parts of the foundation for the Washington Monument.

Burnett was officially incorporated as a city in 1933. The population at the time was approximately 4000 people, and since that time has maintained a relatively stable level of population.