Bullinger's Creek

Bullinger's Creek, formerly known as Palmetto Creek and as Arroyo Dulce, is a spring-fed perennial stream that rises three miles northwest of Sealy in south central Austin County (at 29°49' N, 96°13' W) and flows east for eight miles to its mouth on the Brazos River, near San Felipe on the Waller county line (at 29°49' N, 96°06' W). The stream traverses sloping to nearly level terrain surfaced by sandy loam that along the lower creek banks supports post oak, blackjack oak, elm, and hackberry. The Stephen F. Austin State Historical Park lies on the lower creek near the Brazos. Settlement near the stream was underway by 1823, when San Felipe de Austin was formed. The stream helped provide the supply of fresh water, independent of the river, that Stephen F. Austin believed was essential to the security of the site. Austin built his own residence on Bullinger's Creek about a half mile west of the Brazos. This was a log cabin, with two rooms or wings connected by a central passageway in which a cannon was lodged for emergency use in defending the settlement. About 1880 Sealy was established some four miles west of San Felipe as a station on a new line of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, which spanned Bullinger's Creek about a mile north of the town. In 1895 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas line extended track through Sealy skirting the south bank of the creek.