Bastrop ISD history

Fort Puesta del Colorado was established at the future site of Bastrop in about 1805.

The Baron de Bastrop obtained permission from the Spanish to found a German colony and selected the site in 1823, but subsequently failed to establish a settlement.

Austin, interested in developing the upper reaches of his original colony, used this name after the German colonization attempt failed and he obtained permission in 1827 to locate a "Little Colony" of 100 families on the site.

By 1830 early pioneers such as Josiah Wilbarger, Reuben Hornsby, James Burleson, Edward Burleson, and Jess Barker had located in the Bastrop area.

In the three years following the 1832 establishment of the town, the population of the area swelled to 1,100 or so, adding many new immigrants to pioneers such as Edward Burleson, Reuben Hornsby and Josiah Wilbarger.

In 1833, Wilbarger was a member of a scouting party near Bastrop when a group of Comanches attacked.

In 1834, the Mexican government renamed the town Mina, after a Spanish war hero.

In May 1835, Mina citizens became the first to organize a committee of safety to stockpile arms and keep citizens informed of revolutionary developments.

Unfortunately, the town was entirely destroyed in 1836 when the Mexican army razed it as they chased settlers east across the territory.

In 1839, when Austin became the capital of the republic, Bastrop began supplying the city with lumber.

A post office was established in 1846, and a one-room log school was in operation the next year.

In 1851 Bastrop Methodists built the county’s first church, a weekly newspaper was founded, and the Bastrop Educational Society opened Bastrop Academy.

In 1853, the Bastrop Advertiser began its long publishing history.

The Bastrop Academy opened, and in 1856 the Bastrop Military Institute opened in the same building.

A fire in 1862 destroyed most of the downtown, but it was rebuilt in the following decades, along with many charming Victorian-style houses and buildings which are still standing today.

A wrought-iron bridge built across the Colorado in 1890 put in-town ferries out of business.

The school was built in 1892 on East Marion Street on a four acre spot in Bastrop.

Bastrop established a public library, and by 1909 had graded schools and two banks.

When the camp gradually closed after the war, Bastrop shrank to 4,000, then 3,158 in 1950.

The last high school class to graduate from Emile School was in May 1969.

In 1988, Bastrop ISD restored the name of Emile, calling the campus Emile Elementary School.

The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa opened here in 2006, bringing many tourists and conference attendees from all over the world who were previously unaware of our charming little town.

The charts below are compiled from the Fall 2021 PEIMS snapshot.