|
|
BELLVILLE,
TEXAS
Austin County
Seat, Central Texas
Hwy 36 and 159
19 miles S of Brenham
on Hwy 36
15 miles N of Sealy on Hwy 36
16 miles SW of Hempstead
on Hwy 159
62 miles W of Houston
via I-10
103 miles E of Austin
via Hwy 290
Population 3794 (2000)
|
|
|
The
Historic Finn Building
TE Photo |
|
|
|
The
beloved 1888 (former) Austin County Courthouse in Bellville
Courtesy Bellville Historical Society |
|
Bellville,
Texas Attractions
Austin
County Jail, Museum & Library
Bellville has a great jail, which now serves as the Austin County
Museum, and many other buildings. Maybe they aren't as grand as
the jail, but they are charming and in some cases unique (The old
Dr. Pepper bottling plant with its rock façade comes to mind). more
|
|
|
Main
Street in Bellville
It looks the same today - only different.
Photo courtesy Bellville Library |
|
Town Square
On and just off the square are antiques and crafts shops and eateries
within easy stroll.
Guide to
Historic Buildings
The Bellville Historical Society has prepared a guide to Bellville's
turn-of-the-century homes and downtown buildings. It's available
at the Chamber of Commerce.
|
|
|
The Bellville Band
Photo courtesy Bellville Library |
|
|
|
The Double Hanging
at Bellville in 1896 |
|
The
Double Hanging at Bellville in 1896
All things considered, it was a pretty civilized affair.
There were
two murders in Austin County in 1895. While they occured in
distant corners of the county, they were separated by a span of only
38 days. Both perpetrators were apprehended and taken to the County
Jail in Bellville.
This sort of situation must have been on the minds of our wise and
august lawyers in Austin when they passed legislation demanding Courthouses
be placed near the center of the county. It certainly made things
convenient for the populace to attend hangings. more
|
Bellville
Tourist Information
Bellville Chamber
of Commerce - 979-865-3407
13 East Main, PO Box 670 Bellville Texas 77418-0670
http://www.bellville.com/ |
|
"The
Bellville tin man tank and it's giant red arrow wind vane. Unfortunately
that tower no longer exists today."
Oct 20, 2000 Photo courtesy David Stall
|
|
Bellville
Texas Forum
Subject: Really
enjoy this site!
Hi, as a resident of Bellville, I wanted to tell you how much I
enjoyed the site designed by Kate Wong Troesser. The pictures used
are fine and the site is so easy to navigate - always a good thing!
And the information given is informative, interesting and such fun
to share. I have sent this address to a friend in Norway so he can
finally get a little gist of the town of Bellville Thank you for
making this available. - Sincerely Susan W., May 19, 2002
Subject : cool
site
I enjoyed the hell out of your whole site. I'm trying to think of
the best way to say "Go look at this cool site" to my readers at
Houston.About.Com. I found you via a Google search for some small
town thing - can't recall now. The
Double Hanging in Bellville tempted me to go off on a highly
enjoyable tangent.- Aussie M
Anyone wishing to share history, stories or historic photos of Bellville,
Texas, please contact
us.
First Published 1999
© John Troesser
Book
Your Hotel Here & Save
Brenham
Hotels
More
Hotels
|
|
|
