Jollyville, Texas (unnamed copywriting)

Jollyville, Texas sits on the border of Williamson and Travis counties. This small Austin suburb had a humble beginning, and maintained its status as a very small community for the majority of its life.

Initially, the town was founded by a man named Henry Rhodes after he obtained from the Republic of Texas in 1841 a land-grant for 1000 acres. He created the town as a small settlement with no name, and as a result it ended up being named after a later inhabitant. In 1866 a man named John Grady Jolly and his wife Isabel purchased 160 acres from Henry Rhodes and open a small blacksmith shop and general store. They lived a life here, and later in their life donated their land to the community for school and a graveyard. The couple were buried there and remained there to this day. The town, Jollyville, was named in their honor.

Jollyville itself remained a very small community all the way until the 1970s. In fact, in the 1960s the census revealed that there were no more than 20 families living there. However, like so many other small communities in Williamson County, Jollyville was greatly affected by the rapid growth of neighboring Austin. By the 1970s Austin had grown so large that Jollyville had actually become a suburb of the city and began its rapid growth. By the most recent census count, the city had grown to a population of almost 16,000 people.

At most areas of Austin, the quaint community of Jollyville has enjoyed a steady level of home prices and median income. Unlike the rest of the nation, Austin and the surrounding communities have been largely unaffected by the housing crisis and the recession. However, Jollyville has seen a slightly larger decrease than most of Austin's other suburbs. This is mainly due to the fact that there are not many sales in the Jollyville area

However, compared to the rest of the nation, Jollyville has still performed much better. Last year, median income for a household in Jollyville was $66,000, roughly $20,000 higher than national average. The median home price is $185,000, roughly $40,000 higher than that of the rest of the nation. Unlike some of the more trendy areas of Austin and its surrounding suburbs, Jollyville does not have a high level of home transfers. Most homes in the area and be known by the same people who own them for many number of years.