Georgetown, Texas

Other Sterling Family may have lived here also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgetown,_Texas

Georgetown has a notable range of Victorian commercial and residential architecture. In 1976, a local historic ordinance was passed to recognize and protect the significance of the historic central business district and in 1977 the Williamson County Courthouse Historic District, containing some 46 contributing structures, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[4]

Georgetown is called the "Red Poppy" Capital of Texas for the many red poppy (Papaver rhoeas) wildflowers planted throughout the city and in many residents' front yards, which bloom each Spring. Georgetown also holds a Red Poppy Festival in April each year. The festival attracts up to 30,000 visitors annually.

Geographically, Georgetown lies across the Balcones Escarpment,^[5] a fault line that divides Georgetown into areas roughly east of Interstate 35 in the Blackland Prairie which is flat farmland characterized by having black, fertile soils, where cotton is the primary crop; and the west side of the Escarpment which consists of hilly, karst-like terrain pocketed with vugular limestone openings that allow water to percolate through the limestone and into the Edwards Aquifer below. The area typically has little topsoil and has higher elevations, and is considered part of the Texas Hill Country. ^[6]

Georgetown was named for George Washington Glasscock who donated the land for the new town. Early American and Swedish pioneers were attracted to the area's abundance of timber and good, clear water. In addition, the land was inexpensive and extremely fertile. Georgetown, Texas, is the county seat of Williamson County, which was formed on March 13, 1848 after the early settlers petitioned the State Legislature to create it out of Milam County. The county was originally to have been named San Gabriel County, but was instead named after Robert McAlpin Williamson (aka Three-Legged Willie), a Texas statesman and judge at the time.^[14]

Georgetown was an agrarian community for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Shawnee Trail, a cattle trail that led from Texas to the railcenters in Kansas and Missouri, crossed through the heart of Georgetown. The establishment of Southwestern University in 1873 and construction of a railroad in 1878 contributed to the town's growth and importance. A stable economy developed, based largely on agricultural activity. Cotton was the dominant crop in the area between the 1880s and the 1920s. Williamson County was the top producer of cotton in the State of Texas.^[15]

Primarily to transport cattle and bales of cotton, at one time Georgetown was served by two national railroads, the International-Great Northern Railroad, which eventually was merged into the Missouri Pacific, and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. The regional Georgetown and Granger Railroad (GGR) was completed to Austin in 1904. Currently, Georgetown is served by the appropriately named Georgetown Railroad, a 'short line' railroad that uses portions of the former M-K-T and the I-GN to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad at Round Rock and at Granger.

Extensive damage and loss of life throughout the county from a 1921 flood led Georgetown to seek flood control. A low pressure system from a hurricane settled in over Williamson County and brought more than 23 inches of rain in Taylor and 18 plus inches of rain in Georgetown. An estimated 156 persons perished in the flood, many of them farm laborers .^[16] The flood and its horrific destruction culminated in the building of a dam on the north fork of the San Gabriel River to create and impound Lake Georgetown, which opened officially on October 5, 1979.^[6] Both Georgetown and Round Rock own the water rights to Lake Georgetown for municipal water use.

Population growth and industrial expansion continued modestly in the twentieth century until about 1960 when residential, commercial, and industrial development, due to major growth and urban expansion of nearby Austin, greatly accelerated. In 2008, Fortune Small Business Magazine named Georgetown the No. 2 best city in the nation to "live and launch" a new business.

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hfg03

The establishment of Southwestern University in 1873 and construction of a railroad in 1878 contributed to the town's growth and importance. A stable, healthy economy was based largely on agriculture, and a major tributary cattle trail led through the heart of Georgetown to the Western, Chisholm, Dodge City, and Shawnee trails^qv. The Williamson County Sun, founded in 1877, continued publication in the 1990s. Industry prior to 1900 included limestone quarries; grist, flour, planing, and woodworking mills; cotton gins; brick, flue, chair, and mattress factories; tin, pewter, blacksmith, saddlery, and shoe shops; a knitting mill, bakeries, and confectioneries; the Texas Chautauqua Assembly, a bottling works, and an old mill. Between 1891 and 1960 master builder Charles Sanford Belford (1857–1929) and his heirs operated a lumberyard and built many fine homes and other structures that are still in use. Well known among cattlemen of Texas and the nation were Dudley Hiram Snyder, John Wesley Snyder, and John Sparks, residents of Georgetown in the cattle-drive years.

Cotton production became dominant in the area from the 1880s to the 1920s, after which crop diversification was practiced. The Georgetown and Granger Railroad was completed to Austin in 1904. Extensive loss from a 1921 flood led Georgetown to seek flood control, an effort that culminated in the building of a dam to impound Lake Georgetown, which opened officially on October 5, 1979. An unlicensed radio station appeared briefly in the 1930s, and Radio Station KGTN opened in 1962. Population growth and industrial expansion continued modestly in the twentieth century until about 1960, when residential, commercial, and industrial development greatly accelerated. Since then adaptive restoration has been widely practiced, with special emphasis on a Main Street program and private restoration of older homes. Also since then Georgetown has added several heavy manufacturing plants, light and cottage industry, and crushed-stone quarries; parks at Lake Georgetown and in the center of town; retirement and nursing homes; a new hospital; low-cost housing that has been a model for similar projects over Texas; Mood-Heritage Museum; a public library; and Inner Space Cavern. The population in 1980 was 9,468, and 4,500 more lived in the area. In 1990 the population was 14,842, and in 2000 it was 28,339.