Alum Creek, TX

Alum Creek is located where Highway 71 crosses Alum Creek about four miles southeast of Bastrop in central Bastrop County. It is one of the oldest communities in Bastrop County, having been settled about 1829 by seven families from Stephen F. Austin's lower colonies. The Cottles, Highsmiths, Crafts, Parkers, Grimeses, Ridgeways, and Whites built a fort for protection against Indians near the mouth of the creek and located their cabins and farms nearby. By 1835 a private school had been established in the community, and in 1846 a five-acre plot was deeded by James Craft for an Alum Creek campground and meetinghouse. An Alum Creek post office was established in 1851, and by 1853 a local Methodist Episcopal church had been formed. In 1884 the community had a population of 200 that supported three mills, two general stores, a blacksmith shop, and a saloon. By 1896 the population had dipped to forty, and two years later the post office was discontinued. Though an Alum Creek school continued until 1937, the community failed to maintain enough people to be included in twentieth-century population estimates. During the 1930s Alum Creek was the site of a community club. By the mid-1980s the community consisted of a few houses and a cluster of country antique shops. In 2000 the population was seventy.