Lampasas, Texas, Lampasa County seat. (original) (raw)

Lampasas County Seat, Texas Hill Country

31�3'57"N 98�11'0"W (31.065868, -98.183444)

On Sulphur Creek
At the junction of U.S. Hwys 183, 281, and 190
69 miles NW of Austin on Hwy 183
22 miles N of Burnet
37 miles SW of San Saba
28 miles W of Killeen
ZIP code 76550
Area code 512
Population: 7,291 (2020 )
6,681 (2010) 6,786 (2000) 6,382 (1990)

Book Hotel Here › Lampasas Hotels

History in a Pecan Shell

Originally named Burleson, after John Burleson, a Texas revolutionary soldier, the town was built on land given to him for his war service. The name was changed when Lampasas County was created in 1856. The town was officially incorporated the same year the courthouse was finished (1883).

Lampasas, Texas

Attractions / Landmarks / Photos

1939 Photo courtesy TXDoT

The 1870 Keystone Hotel Historical Marker
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, July 2009

Historical Marker:Keystone Hotel

1870. Famous early-day stagecoach inn of J. L. N. Gracy. Windows have keystone arches. Native rock was hauled to site by oxen.

In rear was grave of boy killed by Indians; also bell tower, house for employees. Wagon yard was across road.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1965

Formerly Central Christian Church of Lampasas
Now a Funeral Chapel
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy William Beauchamp, July 2009

Hancock Park:

A city park of 109 acres; amenities include a pool, golf course and the Hancock Springs. These springs drew many health seeking tourists in the late 1800s, but had been in use long before the area was settled. A marker in Hancock Park shows where a bathhouse was built for steam baths.

The current attractive suspension bridge is a replica of the one that connected the Park Hotel with the bathhouse.

The bridge at Hancock Park over Sulphur Creek
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey, 2003

One of the many stone structure around Lampasas
TE photo, 2002

Lampasas, Texas Nearby Destinations

Colorado Bend State Park:

• Colorado Bend State Park by Chandra Moira Beal
  From U.S. 183 North, take FM 580 west at Lampasas... more
• Colorado Bend: It Is What It Is by Clay Coppedge
  "..Colorado Bend is pure Hill Country: stands of live oak and juniper, thick with wildflowers in the spring, whitetail deer all year long and, every spring, the white bass moving up the Colorado River to spawn... more"

Cemetery:

• Lampasas County�s Longmeadow Cemetery by Mike Cox
  "Many of their forebears are buried in this small rural cemetery, a fenced graveyard accessible only by an unpaved private road...
  While its exact location is unknown, the first burial in or near this cemetery 8 miles east of Lampasas occurred in 1793. And it may well be the oldest Anglo burial in Texas... more"

People:

• "Skelped" by Mike Cox
  Oak Hill Cemetery - Chiseled on his simple tombstone, in addition to his name, birthday and date of death, is the story of his fate in five words -- �killed & skelped by Indians.�
• What Stanley Walker Saw by Clay Coppedge
  Stanley Walker, the legendary journalist and editor from Lampasas, was a man ahead of his time. Though he lived and worked in a time far removed from ours, his perceptions and comments hold merit more than 40 years after his death...
• O. Henry by Mike Cox

Lampasas, Texas Driving Tour & Map

The first stop when visiting Lampasas is the Chamber of Commerce located in the 1902 Santa Fe Depot.
501 East Second Street (Corner of 2nd and Live Oak Streets)
Phone: 512-556-5172.
http://www.lampasaschamber.org/

The reason for making this your first stop is to pick up the excellent Driving Tour and Map. A lot of work went into this, and it is complete. Towns wishing to do a driving tour would do well to study this one.

Another interesting brochure is a detailed history of the local Horrell-Higgins feud, which came to a head in a bloody downtown shootout on June 7th 1877. Unlike the Hollywood shootouts which produce scores of bodies in a five- minute fight, this one took an hour and a half and resulted in two fatalities with one wounded.

In addition to an active Chamber and its membership in the Main Street Cities program, Lampasas has also formed a Courtyard Square Association "dedicated to the preservation of the historic downtown district."

Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact us.