Bastrop () is a city and the county seat of Bastrop County, Texas, United States. Its population was 9,688 according to the 2020 census.

Bastrop's namesake, Felipe Enrique Neri, Baron de Bastrop, was a commoner named Philip Hendrik Nering Bogel, who was wanted for embezzlement in his native country of the Netherlands. In Texas, he assisted Moses and Stephen F. Austin in obtaining land grants in Texas and served as Austin's land commissioner. In 1827, Austin located about 100 families in an area adjacent to his earlier Mexican contracts. Austin arranged for Mexican officials to name a new town there after the baron who died the same year.

On June 8, 1832, the town was platted along conventional Mexican lines, with a square in the center and blocks set aside for public buildings. The town was named Bastrop, but two years later, the Coahuila y Tejas legislature renamed it Mina in honor of Francisco Javier Mina, a Mexican revolutionary hero and martyr. The town was incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Texas on December 18, 1837, and the name was changed back to Bastrop.

Overlooking the center of the town is the Lost Pines Forest. Composed of loblolly pines (Pinus taeda), the forest is the center of the westernmost stand of the southern pine forest. As the only timber available in the area, the forest contributed to the local economy. Bastrop began supplying Austin with lumber in 1839 and then San Antonio, the western Texas frontier, and parts of Mexico.

A fire in 1862 destroyed most of downtown Bastrop's commercial buildings and the county courthouse. As a result, most current downtown structures postdate the Civil War. In 1979, the National Register of Historic Places admitted 131 Bastrop buildings and sites to its listings. This earned Bastrop the title of the "Most Historic Small Town in Texas".

The first edition of the Bastrop Advertiser and County News (now The Bastrop Advertiser) was published on March 1, 1853, giving it claim to be the oldest continuously published weekly (semiweekly since September 5, 1977) in Texas. The wider Bastrop County is also covered by papers such as the Elgin Courier.

On September 4, 2011, two wildfires started when trees fell on power lines. The first fire started in the community of Circle D-KC Estates near Bastrop State Park, and the other fire started about north. The two fires merged into the Bastrop County Complex fire. This was the worst and most destructive wildfire in Texas history, as it destroyed 1,691 homes, killed two people, and caused $325 million of insured property damage. The drought in Texas at the time combined with strong winds from the Gulf of Mexico caused by Tropical Storm Lee helped fuel the fire.

Geography

Bastrop is located near the center of Bastrop County along the lower Colorado River. The downtown business district of the city is located on a bluff on the east bank of the river, but the city extends to the west side of the river, as well. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.23%, is covered by water.

About 96.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.6% lived in rural areas.

Of the 3,714 households in Bastrop, 32.4% had children under 18 living in them, 43.4% were married-couple households, 16.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 33.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 or older.

! Race !! Percentage

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| White || 64.9%

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| Black or African American || 10.2%

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| American Indian and Alaska Native || 1.1%

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| Asian || 2.4%

|-

| Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander || 0.2%

|-

| Some other race || 7.6%

|-

| Two or more races || 13.6%

|-

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 24.9%

|}

2000 census

As of the 2000 census,

Federal Correctional Institution Bastrop, a prison of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, is in nearby Camp Swift.

Arts and culture

  • Bastrop museum

Parks and recreation

  • Bastrop State Park
  • Bob Bryant Park

Education

thumb|[[Bastrop ISD headquarters]]

The Bastrop Independent School District serves Bastrop. Students in kindergarten through grade 5 attend either Adelton, Colony Oaks, Emile, or Mina Elementary School. Students in grades 6-8 attend either Bastrop or Riverside Middle School. Students in grades 9-12 attend Bastrop High School.

Austin Community College conducts night and continuing-education classes at Bastrop High School.

From 1893 until 1969, Emile High School served as the segregated black high school.

  • Adrian Grenier, actor
  • Ryan Holiday, author
  • Zachary Levi, actor
  • Richard Linklater, director and writer
  • Michael Moorcock, science fiction/fantasy writer
  • Thomas R. Phillips, former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice
  • Rodney Reed, Texas death row inmate
  • Billy Waugh, former American Special Forces sergeant major and CIA officer
  • Lovie Yancey, founder of international burger chain Fatburger

See also

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Bastrop County, Texas
  • Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks in Bastrop County
  • Fairview Cemetery (Bastrop, Texas)

References

  • City of Bastrop official website
  • Handbook of Texas Online article