Wandering Through Georgetown

The county seat of Williamson County is Georgetown, a bustling city of 50,000 established in 1848 by settlers from Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Moravia and Czechoslovakia and from Tennessee, South Carolina, and other Southern states.  One-third of Georgetown's current population, which exploded in the 1980s and '90s, lives in Sun City Texas, a large retirement-oriented and age-restricted development on 5,300 acres with an average net worth of $1 million per person.  The city's increased growth and revitalization has not prohibited its ability to maintain the 19th Century charm as evidenced by the Masonic Building pictured above.

The Masonic Lodge building was constructed in 1900 and is one of many Victorian structures on the square surrounding the 1910 courthouse.

The Grace Heritage Center, a former Episcopal Church built in 1881 and later moved to its present site, was donated to the City of Georgetown in 1991 and is a reminder of the city's architectural heritage.

This mural on the outside of a building acts as an adornment to a free public parking lot and shows, in somewhat of a modern form, some of Georgetown's historic buildings.

The M.B. Lockett Building shows a date of 1896.  That was the date it was remodeled.  It has served the community of Georgetown in various fashions by various owners since the 1840s and is one of the most beautiful buildings on the square and may very well be one of the oldest.

Georgetown is an eclectic Victorian/modern city with many boutiques and art galleries on the public square.  We met this decoupaged lady who was relaxing on a bench, having just read the local newspaper, outside a colorful shop across the street from the courthouse.

In addition to scenes of the Texas capitol building, the yellow rose of Texas, the Alamo, and many other photographic mementos of our great state, she had silver longhorns embellishing her -- um -- well -- you know -- well, you can tell what they were embellishing.  And she had a very nice silver belly button as well!

She also had eyelashes and five-point star earrings.  This was my favorite photographic capture in Georgetown!  My cousin and I both posed for pictures with her but I decided to refrain from publishing those.

And then of course there were several sidewalk cafes on the square.  I think the flowers were fake but the red brick sidewalk was real!

Georgetown is the Red Poppy Capital of Texas and has a Red Poppy Festival each spring.  It is also a significant Texas wine-growing region.  Its most famous resident is Nolan Ryan, one of the greatest baseball players of all time. I'm not much of a sports fan so I associate Nolan Ryan with things like steak and commercials for foundation repairs!

Georgetown is located a short 30 miles north of Austin on Interstate 35, 170 miles south of Dallas, 240 miles southwest of my home near Garrison, Texas, and 1,500 miles from the Georgetown most of you are familiar with in Washington, D.C.