Volente, Texas, Travis County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

Some say the name is from the Latin for "to be willing" while others claim that the word is native for "God willing." Whichever it was, a post office was granted to the village in 1886. This facility closed its doors in 1909 and the community mail was rerouted through Cedar Park (Williamson County).

With the damming of the Colorado river and impounding of Lake Travis, part of Volente was inundated and the residents moved to higher ground.

A local real estate developer changed the name to Dodd City in the late forties and early fifties, but this was a short-lived interlude, In the late 1950s it returned to Volente.

The population was estimated at 250 about the time the old name was reclaimed, which grew to 400 by the late 1980s. The 2010 count was 520.

Travis County 1907 Postal Map showing Volente
(Above "R" in "TRAVIS". NW of Austin.)
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

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