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LAMPASAS,
TEXASLampasas
County Seat, Texas
Hill Country
Hwy 183 & Hwy 281
69 miles NW of Austin
on Hwy 183
Population: 6,786 (2000) 6,382 (1990)
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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 Today
Lampasas
Attractions & Destinations |
Keystone Hotel
Historical Marker Text
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. |
Formerly
Central Christian Church of Lampasas
Now a Funeral Chapel
Photo courtesy
William
Beauchamp, July 2009 |
| The
bridge at Hancock Park over Sulphur Creek
Photo courtesy Jim & Lou Kinsey,
2003 |
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.
Lampasas
Hotels > Book Your Hotel Here & Save |
Lampasas 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...
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..."
Lampasas
Hotels >
Book Your Hotel Here & Save |
One
of the many stone structure around Lampasas
TE photo, 2002 |
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Barber Pole. TE photo, 2002 |
Lampasas Chronicles:
Jesse James,
Supposedly by Clay Coppedge
"...That
the James and Younger brothers spent some time in Texas is not in dispute, and
local legends of the James and Younger brothers in Bell and surrounding counties
abound..."
People:
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... |
Lampasas
Tourist Information
- 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." | |
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