Butler, Bastrop County, Texas | |
|---|---|
  Butler  Butler | |
| Coordinates: 30°19′15″N97°17′48″W / 30.32083°N 97.29667°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Bastrop |
| Elevation | 469 ft (143 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code(s) | 512 & 737 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1331743 [1] |
Butler is an unincorporated community in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. [1] It is located within the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
The town was established in 1871 with the coming of the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. [2] It was named after Michael Butler, an Irish immigrant bricklayer who founded a brick works on a railway spur. [3]
The small community never expanded sufficiently to establish a post office. Population figures were not reported until the 1930s when there were 107 residents. This number reached 150 by the late 1940s and remained at this level for the next 20 years. In the mid-1980s, the settlement was still listed as a community. [2] Butler still appears on county highway maps.
Michael Butler founded Elgin-Butler Brick Company in 1873. He had accidentally discovered suitable brickmaking clay while digging holes on land bought for timber. The firm's central operations were located at a 1,000-acre site in Butler; sales headquarters were based in Austin. Butler gradually became a company town with a company store and brick homes for the workers, who farmed on the side. [3]
In 1990, the brickworks was automated so that the clay was mixed with water and extruded into molds before firing. During the 1990s, Elgin-Butler employed 411 workers. The firm gained a reputation for innovative brick designs with widespread appeal. Michael Butler was succeeded by members of his family, including a son who studied ceramic engineering at Ohio State University. [3] Today, Elgin-Butler Brick produces firebrick and specialty structural glazed tiles. After being passed through five generations of Butlers, the family sold the company in 2005. [4]
Butler is located five miles southeast of Elgin, 20 miles north of the town of Bastrop and 31 miles east of Austin near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 696 and Farm to Market Road 106 (Old McDade Road), near Texas State Highway 290. It is also located 6 mi (9.7 km) west of McDade. [5]
Butler is served by the Bastrop Independent School District.
Bastrop County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in Central Texas and its county seat is Bastrop.
Bastrop is a city and the county seat of Bastrop County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,688 according to the 2020 census. It is located about 30 mi (48 km) southeast of Austin and is part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
Elgin is a city in Bastrop County in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 9,784 at the 2020 census. Elgin is also known as the Sausage Capital of Texas and the Brick Capital of the Southwest, due to the presence of three operating brickyards in the mid-20th century.
U.S. Route 290 is an east–west U.S. Highway located entirely within the state of Texas. Its western terminus is at Interstate 10 southeast of Segovia, and its eastern terminus is at Interstate 610 in northwest Houston. It is the main highway between Houston and Austin and is a cutoff for travelers wanting to bypass San Antonio on Interstate 10. Throughout its length west of Austin, US 290 cuts across mountainous hills comprising the Texas Hill Country and the Edwards Plateau; between Austin and Houston, the highway then travels through gradually hilly grasslands and pine forests comprising the Gulf Coastal Plains.
The Elgin-Butler Brick Company manufactures structural ceramic glazed masonry products at a plant northeast of Austin, Texas, United States. The company has regional market dominance in structural brick and other ceramic products.
The Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metropolitan statistical area, or Greater Austin, is a five-county metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Texas, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The metropolitan area is situated in Central Texas on the western edge of the American South and on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, and borders Greater San Antonio to the south.
Farm to Market Road 969 is a 28.95-mile (46.59 km) farm-to-market road located in Travis and Bastrop counties in the U.S. state of Texas.
Farm to Market Road 812 is a 21.3-mile (34.3 km) state-maintained roadway located in Travis and Bastrop counties in the US State of Texas.
Cedar Creek is an census-designated place (CDP) in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. It is located about 11 miles (18 km) west of the city of Bastrop. The community takes its name from Cedar Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River that is close to the area. Cedar Creek is home to McKinney Roughs Nature Park, which features natural landscapes and an archaeological site.
Utley is an unincorporated community in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 50 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
Bateman is an unincorporated community in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. It is located within the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
Sayersville is an unincorporated community in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. It is located within the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
Travis County has had two locations named Montopolis. The first was during the Republic of Texas period north of the Colorado River. The second is today's Montopolis neighborhood in Austin, Texas south of the river. Located southeast of the city's urban core, today's neighborhood is in ZIP code 78741. Montopolis is bounded by Lake Lady Bird on the north, by Grove Street and the Pleasant Valley neighborhood on the west, to the south by Texas State Highway 71, and by U.S. Route 183 on the east. The southeast corner abuts Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Montopolis is in City Council District 3.
Watterson is an unincorporated community in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. It is located within the Greater Austin metropolitan area.
Grassyville is a ghost town located in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. The community was founded in the northeastern corner of the county, near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 2104 and Farm to Market Road 2239, six miles south of Paige, 14 miles east of Bastrop, and 50 miles east of Austin.
Phelan is a ghost town in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Bastrop near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 157 and Farm to Market Road 36. It is on private property.
McDuff is a ghost town in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. The community was located eight miles southwest of Elgin, 12 miles northwest of Bastrop, and 25 miles east of Austin. It was on an old stage mail route from Bastrop to Austin. Today, the town site would correspond roughly with the intersection of Farm to Market Road 969 and Upper Elgin River Road.
Oak Hill is a ghost town in Bastrop County, Texas, United States. It is located four miles southwest of McDade, 12 miles southeast of Elgin, 13 miles northeast of Bastrop, and 37 miles southeast of Austin on the old Bastrop-McDade Road.
McDade Pottery was the largest, longest-lived and most prolific of a series of potteries that manufactured utilitarian stoneware in Bastrop County, Texas, beginning in the 19th century.
Municipalities and communities of Bastrop County, Texas, United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
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| Other communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |