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SCHWERTNER,
TEXAS
Williamson County,
Texas Hill Country
FM 487 and FM 1105 near the Bell county line
7 miles E of Jarrell
7 miles NE of Theon, which is just N
of Georgetown
N of Austin
Population 150 (estimate)
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Cattle
drinking in Donahoe Creek
TE Photo 9-04 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
The town dates from 1877 when Austrian immigrant Bernard Schwertner
and his three sons recognised the areas potential for farming.
The town itself was established by one of the sons (Adolf) when he
built a cotton gin in 1903 and donated land for a townsite in anticipation
of the railroad.
The Bartlett and Western Railway arrived in 1909 and three years later
a post office was granted. |
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Old
store fronts in Schwertner
TE Photo 9-04 |
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Silos
in Schwertner
TE photo 9-04 |
By
1915 Schwertner was thriving with a weekly newspaper, boarding house,
doctor and a brass band complementing the essential businesses (saloon
and blacksmith) that every town had. From only ten people (most of
them Schwertners) in 1925, the town swelled to nearly 500 by the end
of the decade. By 1933 it had shrunk back to 100 and the Bartlett
and Western Railroad came to a halt two years later.
The population increased to 200 where it remained into the 60s. Schwertner
was consolidated with the Bartlett ISD in the fifties. |
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One of Schwertner's feline residents
TE Photo 9-04 |
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