{"data":{"site":{"siteMetadata":{"title":"awst.in","author":"EB"}},"markdownRemark":{"id":"36a2d422-fe12-5a6b-ac77-ba238cf8852e","excerpt":"Georgetown Location:  Georgetown, TX (~30 miles north of Austin on I-35) Anchor Site:  Georgetown Town Square / Southwestern University…","html":"<h1>Georgetown</h1>\n<p><strong>Location:</strong> Georgetown, TX (~30 miles north of Austin on I-35)<br>\n<strong>Anchor Site:</strong> Georgetown Town Square / Southwestern University / [[Austin MSA/Ancient - Inner Space Cavern]]</p>\n<h2>The Hook</h2>\n<p>A Victorian-era county seat that declared itself home to “the Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas” — and has been making that claim stick for 150 years. Under the square: a cave system discovered entirely by accident in 1963 when highway workers drilled too deep.</p>\n<h2>Key Facts</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Georgetown was founded in 1848 as the county seat of Williamson County</li>\n<li>Southwestern University (est. 1840) is the oldest university in Texas, predating the state itself — it was operating as a Methodist school before Texas joined the Union in 1845</li>\n<li>The Williamson County Courthouse (1911) anchors a town square ringed with Victorian commercial buildings, many original to the 1880s–1900s</li>\n<li>[[Austin MSA/Ancient - Inner Space Cavern]] was discovered in 1963 when Texas Highway Department workers drilling core samples for an overpass broke through the cave ceiling — it opened to visitors in 1966; contains Pleistocene fossils including mammoth, giant sloth, dire wolf, camel, and early horse</li>\n<li>Georgetown was the first Texas city named a “Great American Main Street City” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation</li>\n<li>Sun City Georgetown, a retirement community, opened in 1995 and today has over 10,000 residents — making Georgetown one of the fastest-aging cities in Texas</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>Story / History</h2>\n<p>Georgetown was platted in 1848 on land donated by George and Millie Rockwell, who named it for their friend Thomas Garwood. Wait — it’s actually named for Georgetown, Kentucky, which Williamson County’s first sheriff George Glasscock hailed from. (The Rockwell origin is one of those persistent local myths.)</p>\n<p>The town grew as a cotton market and county seat through the late 1800s, and the Victorian commercial buildings that ring the square today were built largely between 1880 and 1910, mostly from Elgin brick. The county courthouse, completed in 1911 in Renaissance Revival style, is one of the finest in Texas.</p>\n<p>Southwestern University was chartered in 1840, consolidating four earlier Methodist schools, and relocated to Georgetown in 1873. The Cullen Building on campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p>\n<p>The cave discovery is one of those pure Texas stories: in 1963, workers drilling test cores for an overpass hit a void at 40 feet. A geologist lowered himself in on a rope and found a cathedral-scale cavern filled with stalactites, stalagmites, and Ice Age bones. The highway was rerouted. The cave opened for tours three years later.</p>\n<h2>Local Legend</h2>\n<p>Georgetown locals will tell you that the town square has been officially ranked the most beautiful in Texas by some authoritative body — the Texas Legislature, perhaps, or a prestigious architectural society. In truth, the title appears to have been self-bestowed through decades of confident repetition. But here’s the thing: it works. The declaration is now so widely repeated that visitors arrive expecting the most beautiful town square in Texas — and most of them leave having gotten exactly that. The power of belief in civic marketing is no small thing.</p>\n<h2>Insider Tips</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Park once and walk the entire square; most of the historic buildings have been preserved as shops and restaurants</li>\n<li>See [[Austin MSA/Ancient - Inner Space Cavern]] for full details; standard tours are 45–75 min; Wild Cave crawl tours available by reservation</li>\n<li>The Blue Hole (Blue Hole Regional Park) is a swimming hole on the San Gabriel River about 5 minutes from downtown — a great add-on for summer tours</li>\n<li>Southwestern University campus is walkable from the square and has free parking; the oldest building dates to 1898</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>Annual &#x26; Seasonal Events</h2>\n<p><strong>Spring (Mar–May)</strong></p>\n<ul>\n<li>Red Poppy Festival (April, town square) — Georgetown’s signature event; celebrates the red poppies that bloom across the area each spring</li>\n</ul>\n<p><strong>Summer (Jun–Aug)</strong></p>\n<ul>\n<li>4th of July at San Gabriel Park — fireworks, live music, one of the larger Independence Day events in Williamson County</li>\n</ul>\n<p><strong>Fall (Sep–Nov)</strong></p>\n<ul>\n<li>Georgetown Harvest Festival (October)</li>\n</ul>\n<p><strong>Winter (Dec–Feb)</strong></p>\n<ul>\n<li>Georgetown Christmas Stroll (December, town square) — holiday market and lighting on the Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>Logistics</h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Tour stop duration:</strong> 1.5–2 hours (square + cavern = 3 hours)</li>\n<li><strong>Parking:</strong> Free street and lot parking around the square</li>\n<li><strong>Nearby stops:</strong> Round Rock (20 min south), Georgetown Blue Hole (5 min)</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>Sources</h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Texas State Historical Association Handbook: tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/georgetown-tx</li>\n<li>Inner Space Cavern: innerspacecavern.com</li>\n</ul>","frontmatter":{"title":"Georgetown","date":"June 15, 2026"}}},"pageContext":{"slug":"/Georgetown/","previous":{"fields":{"slug":"/Kyle/"},"frontmatter":{"title":"Kyle"}},"next":{"fields":{"slug":"/Buda/"},"frontmatter":{"title":"Buda"}}}}