Bastrop: Bastrop Museum and Visitor Center

Bastrop: Bastrop Museum And Visitor Center

  • <p>Bastrop Museum and Visitor Center (Larry D. Moore CC BY-SA 3.0.)</p> <p>Front of building named Museum and Visitor Center</p>
  • <p>Unpaved street in a commercial area with horse-drawn buggies and an early automobile in the road</p>
  • <p>Group of people standing in the street of a commercial area, some with signs, some standing on the roof of a building</p>
  • <p>Modern view of a commercial area in a small town</p>
  • <p>Adolph A. Erhard House, one of Bastrop’s historic homes. (24or6to4 CC BY-SA 3.0.)</p> <p>Two storey home with small front porch and groomed front lawn</p>
  • <p>Adolph A. Erhard House, ca. 1900</p> <p>Photo taken in 1900 of same two storey home showing a large covered porch on the side of the home</p>

After land speculator Johann von Racknitztraveled through Texas and Mexico in 1829, he obsessed about starting a German colony. He crafted an ambitious plan to settle large numbers of German and Swiss immigrants on the Colorado River at present-day Bastrop and in 1833sailed from France with several colonists.

The settlement would end in disaster, however. First, cholera hit on the ship ride over. Then, yellow fever. Racknitzrode to the town of Bexar (San Antonio) for help, but by the time he returned, all of the settlers had either died or dispersed among the other colonies.

Still, many Germans settled in Bastrop. Today, the town has several commercial buildings and homes with historical markers that point to that heritage, and museum exhibits tell of settlement life.

Bastrop Museum and Visitor Center

  • Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday 1 - 4 p.m.
  • Admission: None
  • 904 Main St., Bastrop, TX
  • 512-303-0057
  • Visit Website