Did You Know? The Town That Took Its Name From a Rock — Round Rock, Texas
If you’ve driven north of Austin, you’ve likely seen the signs for Round Rock and maybe even wondered how a major city ended up with such a simple name. The answer lies in a rock — a literal round limestone rock in Brushy Creek that marked the natural wagon crossing where settlers once forded the water. Today, that stone still sits in the creek bed, quietly watching over a place that has grown from a stagecoach stop into one of America’s fastest-growing cities.
Permanent settlement began here in the late 1830s, when a few brave families carved out lives along the banks of Brushy Creek. By 1848, former Austin mayor Jacob Harrell had moved to the area, selling town lots near the crossing along the old stage road. A post office opened in 1851 under the name “Brushy Creek,” but by 1854, locals started calling their community “Round Rock” after that distinctive limestone marker in the creek — and the name stuck.
The 1850s brought a wave of growth, thanks to immigrants from several U.S. states and from Sweden. Stores, churches, fraternal lodges, and grain mills sprang up, and by 1862, Round Rock Academy became the town’s first institution of higher learning. After the Civil War, the trail through town became a key cattle drive route — a reminder that Round Rock’s early success depended as much on movement as on settlement.
Everything changed in 1876, when the International-Great Northern Railroad extended its line through Williamson County. The railroad built a new townsite just east of the old settlement, and soon a new commercial district grew along Georgetown Avenue (today’s Main Street). “New Town” flourished with limestone storefronts, hotels, cotton gins, blacksmith shops, and restaurants. It grew so quickly that locals renamed the original settlement “Old Round Rock.”
For a time, this once-sleepy outpost rivaled Austin as a commercial hub. Round Rock boasted six hotels to Austin’s five, serving as a retail center for neighboring counties. The railroad didn’t just bring goods — it brought people, ideas, and a more cosmopolitan culture that connected the Hill Country to the wider world.
By the late 20th century, Round Rock’s strategic location along major transportation routes once again positioned it for explosive growth. The limestone buildings of its historic downtown, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, still stand as a reminder of where that story began — beside a creek, beside a rock, and beside the kind of determination that defines Texas towns.
In Round Rock, history isn’t buried under progress — it’s part of the foundation.
Sources:
Texas Historical Marker #15495 – “Round Rock” (Williamson County)
