CEDAR PARK TEXAS CEDAR PARK TEXAS BULLETIN BOARD About this website Within this webpage, you'll find interesting information and photos of the area. You'll also find links to local points of interest, local news, information about local businesses, school and non-profit organizations, and generally what's happening in the Cedar Park area. This area is rich in history and provides a unique shopping experience in buildings constructed centries ago. A Creative Movement Program Where imaginations grow! COME TO A FREE TRIAL CLASS!! WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13th, 2010 Location: Dr John�s Sport Center (map) 1800 Clover Lane, Cedar Park, TX 78613 Please contact us today to reserve your spot and specify class time: 9:00am | 9:45am | 10:30am info@creativewiggles.com Creative Wiggles offers a high-energy, fun-filled class that combines intellectual, motor and social development with action and movement, using rhythmic, motivational, expressive music and games. For More information, See: Creative Wiggles Website If you'd like to post a question, add information, photos, or interesting antidotes about early-day or modern day Cedar Park, Leander or Liberty Hill, send me an email (lenkubiak.geo@yahoo.com) or write me: Len Kubiak PO Box 1479 Cedar Park, Texas 78630.

FOR GREAT DEALS ON INDIAN AND OLD WEST RELICS, INDIAN AND OLD WEST BOOKS, VINTAGE BELT BUCKLES, COKE COLLECTIBLES, AND OTHER GREAT GIFT IDEAS, SEE LINKS ALONG THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PAGE!

THE HISTORY OF CEDAR PARK

Relics excavated from Indian mounds on the banks of Buttercup Creek and Brushy Creek indicate a Native American presence in the Cedar Park area dating back some 10,000 years. As late as the early 1800's, a sizeable Tonkawa Indian population made the Cedar Park area their home. Other tribes native to the area included: Lipan Apaches , the Penateka Comanches,Tawakoni, Mayeye, Yojuan, Kiowa, and Choctaw.

As Texas gained it's independence from Mexico and became a republic, President Lamar decided to use his army to drive the Indian populations out of Texas. In 1840, most tribes were driven out and settled on reservations in the Indian Territory ( that later became Oklahoma). However the comanches, Apaches and Kiowas continued to wage a war with the armies of Texas until their eventual defeat in the Panhandle region of Texas in the 1870's.

In 1836, the Cedar Park region was still the hunting grounds of hostile Indian tribes, and sparsely settled at that time. In 1836, Captain John J. Tumlinson and his company of 60 Texas Rangers built a fort on nearby Block House Creek to patrol and protect families from Indian attacks.Believed to have been the first building erected in present Williamson County, the fort was built at the request of Major Robert McAlpin Williamson, for whom the county would later be named.After only two months of occupancy, however, the Rangers had to abandon the fort when they were recalled to Bastrop.They were needed to cover the retreat of frightened families fleeing their homes and seeking refuge in safer quarters as Santa Anna's army advanced into Texas in his attempt to quell the Texan's fight for independence. This flight, known as the Runaway Scrape, continued until news came of Santa Anna's defeat at San Jacinto.When Rangers finally returned to Block House in 1837, they found the fort had been burned by Indians.

In 1839, the Webster Party Massacre occurred just a few miles north of the region that would become Cedar Park.For the next decade, settlers trickled in, mostly farmers from Kentucky and Tennessee.Finding the soil and brushy woodland unsuitable for cultivation, they planted cotton, corn, wheat and vegetables in the thin black soil along the numerous streams.Later, in the 1870's, the cattle industry began to flourish.One of the early cattle barons was George Washington Cluck, the founder of Cedar Park.

NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH CHARTERED IN 1868

According to early-day letters, the New Hope Baptist Church began meeting informally in area log homes around 1848. The New Hope Baptist Church was formally chartered on October 22 of 1868 with an organizational meeting held in the home of James M. and Elizabeth Trammell, pioneers of the rural BlockHouse Community. Six charter members formed the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church of Christ, and the Rev. Thomas F. Bacon was chosen to serve as the first pastor.

The church cemetery was first used in 1869 for the burial of Martha Elizabeth Inman, the wife of Deacon S. C. Inman. Other marked gravesites include those of settlers who were prominent early leaders of the church and community. In 1869, the church began cooperating with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Austin Baptist Association. In 1870, a log church was built one and one-quarter miles from the present location and three miles south of Bagdad on the old Austin to Burnet road. The two-acre piece of land was part of the Trammel property. In 1871, the church voted to rent the building to the State of Texas for use as a schoolhouse. In 1879, the church constructed a new frame building at today�s site, and the old church building was sold for $30. Williamson County recorded the deeds to the church property and cemetery in 1885. In 1890, New Hope organized its first Sunday School, and in 1897, it built a brush arbor for summer revival services.

FIRST CEDAR PARK AREA SCHOOL (1871)

From 1871 until 1919, the New Hope Baptist Church building was also used for the public school. Pastors included such leading Baptist ministers as missionary J. E. Hamilton, who died in Brazil of Yellow Fever, and the Rev. D. E. Simpson, board member and first treasurer of the Texas Baptist Children�s Home, who was baptized and ordained here. The New Hope Baptist Church is located at 200 W. New Hope Dr. in Cedar Park.

RUNNING BRUSHY SETTLEMENT(1874)

In the spring of 1871, a group of sixteen traildrivers and cluck family men, women, and children, including the Cluck family and their trail drivers, set out for Abilene, Kansas with two large herds of cattle.After several frightful encounters with cattle rustlers, Indians, and floods on the Red River, they reached Abilene that fall. Harriet's fourth child, Euell Standerfer Cluck, was born in Abilene, Kansas on October 17, 1871 and the family remained in Abilene for the winter.

When they returned to Williamson County in the spring of 1872, George W. Cluck purchased 320 acres on Running Brushy Creek and built a log cabin near the spring that fed the creek. Since the family had increased and with cash on hand from the sale of the herds, the Cluck's set about building a larger home. A settlement sprang up near the Cluck family home and in 1874, a post office was authorized with Joel Sutton as first postmaster. In December of 1874, Harriet Cluck took over as Running Brushy post master, a position she held until 1882.

An article entitled,"The Stork Rides The Chisholm Trail", By T. U. Taylor of Austin appeared in the November, 1936 edition of the FRONTIER TIMES:
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Cedar Park and the Cluck Family written up in the November 1936 edition of Frontier Times.

"MANY herds of cattle went up the old Chisholm Trail from Williamson county, but perhaps the most interesting of all these hundreds of herds, the one that left Round Rock in the spring of 1871, is the most romantic. The trail from the south of Austin generally crossed the Colorado at or near Austin and then on by Round Rock, to Salado and Belton, to the north up the old Chisholm Trail.

G. W. Cluck had made all arrangements to take his cattle to Abilene and his courageous pioneer wife with her three children decided to make the trip with the herd. An old fashioned "hack" was provided as a carryall, a stout pair of ponies with the necessary camp outfit was obtained, and Mrs. Hattie Cluck went with the herd as they grazed and trod their weary way from Round Rock to Abilene, Kansas. What makes this trip so romantic was an unseen rider that perched on top of the old hack all the way from Round Rock to Abilene. Amidst the Indians, the danger and depravations, the result was Euell Standefer Cluck."

VILLAGE OF BUTTERCUP IS ESTABLISHED (1880)

About the same time as a settlement was being built a couple of miles to the north, another settlement called Buttercup (also called Doddville and Dodd's Store) was being built closer to Austin.

Dodd's store doubled as a stagestop for the Austin stageline between Austin and Fort Croghan and later to Lampasas. A notable resident of old Buttercup was Dr. Benjamin Tomas Crumley, believed to be part Cherokee Indian. Dr. Crumley was a highly regarded physician who lived at Buttercup.He was born in South Carolina in 1822.After a trip to France, he attended college, and lived for a time with Indians studying their medical use of herbs. Doc Crumley, whose Indian name was Tecumseh, wore his hair in two long braids.He collected herbs and roots from which he prepared many of his medicines. In 1879 he married Lou Rife and continued to practice medicine along the Buttercup region.

The site of the Buttercup stage stop is now at the bottom of a reservoir near U.S. Highway 183. Buttercup once had a store, a church, a school, a gin, a mill, two doctors and a post office from 1880 to 1894. In 1892, Buttercup had a population of forty inhabitants.A conservation dam was built and water now covers the original settlement of Buttercup.

In 1942, the State Legislature voted to buy land to house and raise food for the residents of the Austin State School. From 1943 through 1948 the State Dairy and Hog Farm leased the land. In 1968, the hog farm was closed and the land became the Leander Rehabilitation Center, providing permanent camp shelters, a dormitory, wilderness camping areas, lakes, picnic areas, and other features.

RUNNING BRUSHY NAME CHANGED TO BRUEGGERHOFF (1882)

In 1882 the Austin and Northwestern Railroad was completed from Austin to Burnet, crossing the Cluck land in Running Brushy. At this time, George Cluck sold a tract of land to the Austin and Northwestern Railroad for construction of a sidetrack and the creation of a park. The railroad company then changed the name of Running Brushy to Brueggerhoff, who was a partner of a company official. The town of Brueggerhoff was in existance for approximately 5 years.


This old house that served as the railroad foreman's house is still standing today on the north side of Brushy Creek road just across (east) the railroad tracks.

The original settlement of Brueggerhoff that was remamed Cedar Park was just south of this old house. Situated at the railroad and Brushy Creek Rd. Also this was the location of a store, post office,the Park and the log school/church.

In 1887, a store was built by Emmett Cluck on the east side of the railroad. He then built his home behind and facing his store. An iron fence that had originally stood around the Texas State Capitol was moved to Emmett�s yard. The Clucks sold land next to Emmett�s home to the railroad, but stipulated that a portion be made into a fully landscaped park with benches along the walking paths.

George and Harriett Cluck, founders of Cedar Park, lived on the west side of what is now 183 at the headwaters of Cluck Creek near the old Indian Midden north of Buttercup.


Old train depot in early-day Cedar Park.


A familiar sight in early-day Cedar Park, Leander and Liberty Hill.

George W. and Harriett Cluck settled in this area with their family in the early 1870s, soon after they returned from a cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail. They built a log home and were leaders in the development of the Running Brushy community.

Harriett (Hattie) was the daughter of James Stuart Standifer and Caroline Randall Standifer and lived in the Live Oak Prairie (also called Rutledge settlement and Pond Springs). She attended a log schoolhouse which was built around 1850. The Rutledge family opened a store-post office and a blacksmith shop nearby. A road and stage line ran past Rutledge's store and the Pond Springs post office operated until 1880. In 1882 the Austin and Northwestern Railroad bypassed the settlement, and a new community, called Rutledge or New Rutledge, was established to the northeast.

Hattie was born April 14, 1846 in Cherokee, Alabama and died March 2, 1938 in Williamson Co., TX. Hattie married George Washington Cluck June 25, 1863 in Williamson Co., TX. George was born on December 18, 1839 in Missouri and died August 23, 1920 in Williamson Co., TX.


George and Harriett (Hattie) Cluck, drove cattle to market up the Chisolm trail; returned to Texas to found Running Brushy and Cedar Park.

In the spring of 1871, a pregnant Hattie; her husband George; and three children: seven-year old Allie Annie, five-year-old Emmett, and two-year old Harriett Minnie, walked and rode the long journey to Abilene, Kansas, making Hattie the first woman to travel the Chisholm Trail. Hattie was three months pregnant with Euell Standifer when she left on the trail drive. The Cluck family reached Kansas in the fall. Euell was born in Abilene where the Clucks spent the winter of 1878-79. The following spring, the Cluck family returned to Williamson County and settled in Running Brushy (later known as Cedar Park), where Hattie served as the Postmaster from 1874-1882. Hattie died in 1938 and is buried on the family farm in Cedar Park.


This magnificant larger-than-life statue dedicated to Hattie Cluck dipicts Hattie boldly striding along with a walking stick and carrying a canvas grub bag in which she has collected wild onions, prickly pear pads and willow bark. This bronz statue is located near the round rock crossing of the Brushy in the city of Round Rock.


This bronze statue of Emmett Cluck depicts Emmett with a walking stick in one hand and holding his pet frog in the other hand. This statue is also is located near the Round Rock Brushy Creek Park.

Emmett was the son of Hattie Cluck. As a five-year-old boy, his mother took him on the Chisholm Trail with the rest of his family.

In 1873, George Washington and Harriet (Standefer) Cluck purchased a large amount of land in what would later become Cedar Park. The Running Brushy post office was established in 1874 with Harriet Cluck serving as an early postmistress. When the railroad came through Running Brushy in 1882, the community's name was changed to Bruggerhoff to honor a railroad official.

CEDAR PARK IS FOUNDED(1887)

In 1887, the name of the town was changed again, this time to Cedar Park. According to early letters and pioneer recollections, Cedar Park was named by Emmett Cluck, the son of George Washington and Harriet (Hattie) Cluck.

Emmett Cluck is credited with changing the name of the town to Cedar Park in 1887. Wesley Isaacks became the Cedar Park postmaster on August 25, 1887. Emmett later served as Cedar Park Postmaster from 1892-1929. Emmett died in 1932 and is buried on the family farm in Cedar Park.


Early-day Cedar Park Post Office

Cedar Park was the scene of much growth and activity during the latter years of the nineteenth century. A community school and church building was constructed, and by 1892, a landscaped park had appeared along the rail line.

George Cluck recognized a major business opportunity as settlers began to build fences to protect their property from roaming cattle. Barbed wire and cedar posts were in strong demand and cedar thickets were abundant in the Cedar Park area creating a new economy based on cedar fencing materials.

One early settler, Jessie Long knew the Cluck family, "A long time ago, when I was a little kid, I knew all the Clucks. The oldest boy was Emmett, then Euell, John, Clarence, Dave, Alvin and Tom. These were George Cluck's children. Seven boys and three girls. The oldest girl was Allie. She married Abe Anderson. Minnie was the next one and she married Clay Mason. Julia married S. A. Friedsam. They lived at Cedar Park. There used to be a big spring right there at George Cluck's house, you could step right out of his back door at that spring that ran a whole creek. On the west side of it there were big willow trees, the largest ever grown. There used to be good fish in there. You could swim horses in there the year round. One time George Cluck was gathering cattle down on Sandy. His horse got so tenderfooted he shod him with shingle nails and rode him on home. Uncle George was a great old fellow.

George Cluck had a brother named Bob. Bob moved to the other side of Georgetown. Mr. Bill Cluck lived down around Pleasant Hill. He had seven boys and three girls. The middle girl was a good looking woman and the youngest one, Annie, was a fine looking girl and a good girl, too. She sure did like to dance and she was as pretty a waltzer as you've ever seen. Another brother was Joe Cluck who had a daughter and two sons, Joe and John. When Joe and his wife died, Uncle George raised his son, Joe. Young Joe never did much but work cattle. In 1899, he went out west to what they call the XIT Ranch. He never did come back no more. Don't know if he is living or not. Uncle Billy Dalton raised John. The sister married Joe Davis."

BRUEGGERHOFF TOWN NAME CHANGED TO CEDAR PARK (1887)

The park grounds created as part of the deed restriction in the sale of land from Cluck to the railroad evolved into a beautifully-landscaped park with benches, pebbled walkways and flower beds. In it's prime, the park was the most beautiful area in the central Texas region.

For years, the park was used as a community meeting place. The town of Brueggerhoff was renamed Cedar Park in 1887 after the beautiful park.

EARLY DAY CEDAR PARK CLASS (1904)

Photo curtesy of Lucretia Watson (lawatson@swbell.net). Lucretia's grandmother, Lillia Belle Richards, is one of the teachers (5th from the Right in the back row) shown in this photo taken April 9, 1904 in Cedar Park. This was Lillia's first teaching job!

CEDAR PARK CEMETERY IS ESTABLISHED (1912)

In 1901, upon the death of Emmett Cluck's infant grandson, Emmett A. Cluck, the couple set aside land on their ranch for a family burial ground. The family graveyard became a community cemetery and was formally deeded as such in 1912. George and Harriett Cluck are buried here, along with many family members and neighbors in early-day Cedar Park.

WHITESTONE CEDAR PARK SCHOOL (1923)

In 1923, the Cedar Park and Block House schools were consolidated to form the new Whitestone School. Built of native rock donated by the Allen Quarry, it originally stood on the northwest corner of US 183 and RR 1431. In 1952, it was consolidated with LISD but soon closed, then later dismantled due to roadway improvements.




Cedar Park and Block House schools consolidated to form new Whitestone School (1923) that originally stood on the northwest corner of US 183 and RR 1431. In 1952, it was consolidated with Leander ISD and soon closed, then later dismantled due to roadway improvements. That section of RR 1431 has been renamed Whitestone Blvd.

NEW CEDAR PARK POST OFFICE (late 1930's)

In the late 1930's with Cedar Park's population exceeding 350, it was time for a new post office. This old combination Fabion Store and Cedar Park Post Office served Mobile gas at the pumps and inside offered general store merchandise and a combination post office. This old Cedar Park landmark became an antiques store for many years before it was eventually torn down to make way for modern buildings.

CEDAR PARK TODAY-A TOWN ON THE MOVE

The town of Cedar Park, which included earlier settlements of Buttercup and Running Brushy, remained a small rural town until the 1960's when it became a mobile home community extension of Austin. Over the coming decades, Cedar Park evolved into a regular community as new settlers from the north continued to stream in the area in search of lower cost housing while commuting to the good jobs in Austin. By 1973, it was clear that Cedar Park was becoming a major city.

Today, Cedar Park has a huge mall (Lakeline Mall), Walmart Supercenter, numerous restaurants, churches, and businesses, and dozens of sprawling subdivisions sporting a population of over 35,000 and growing. Traffic congestion has become a way of life and massive highway construction projects including toll roads (US45 and US183A) are transforming the rural landscape into an urban landscape much like that of Houston. HW 1431 near the US183 intersection has undergone a 6 million dollar expansion and Bagdad Road has been widened northward to Nameless Road in Leander. Major growth is now set to occur along the new toll road 183A. Quite a change for a small mobile home community of the 70's!




For most of the 20th century, New Hope functioned as a simple country church that ministered to a small rural community, remaining faithful in its mission to reach a lost world for Christ. The church erected a parsonage in 1948 (currently known as the Rock House and used for education space). In 1966, the church built a red brick sanctuary and later added a wing for Sunday School classrooms (current Preschool Building). During the last few decades of the 20th century, the rural community of Cedar Park began to change as metropolitan Austin grew and the New Hope Church changed with it. From 1985 to 2006, the church constructed the Family Life Center, a new Worship Center, a Children's Education Building, two portable education buildings, as well as purchasing additional houses land for parking. Sunday worship attendance exceeds 800.


The St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church just down the road on New Hope Road (1101 W. New Hope Dr.) is also seeing unparalled growth as are several other area churches.

HISTORICAL MARKERS IN CEDAR PARK

Some of the early-day sites in Cedar Park now have Texas Historical markers in place lest they be forgotton. These include:

The Cluck homestead and settlement (Quest Parkway and Discovery)-Located at the Cedar Park Public Library at 550 Discovery Blvd. This marker reads," The pioneers who settled in Williamson County were rugged, courageous, and enterprising. Harriet (Hattie) Standefer�s family made the perilous trek from Alabama. Later she married George W. Cluck, an aspiring cattle baron. The Cluck, interestingly enough, were some of the first to ride the famous Chisolm Trail. In fact, some have said Hattie was the first white woman to go up the trail, while others said she was �the Queen of the Chisolm Trail.� While raising a family, the Clucks operated many businesses and, as such, were the primary colonizers of what is now Cedar Park. In the end, the Clucks forged a new community that embodies their same ambitious spirit and generosity. "

Cedar Park Cluck Cemetery (West Park Lane, 0.2 miles W of US 183). Marker reads, "George W. and Harriet Cluck settled in this area with their family in the early 1870s, soon after they returned from a cattle drive on the Chisholm Trail. They built a log home and were instrumental in the community's development. In 1901, upon the death of their infant grandson, Emmett A. Cluck, the couple set aside land on their farm for a family burial ground. The family graveyard became a community cemetery and was formally deeded as such in 1912. George and Harriet Cluck are buried here, along with many family members and neighbors."

The east 1/2 acre of the original 7-acre Cluck cemetery was divided by US 183 and now houses the Sonic Drive. The 6-1/2 acre cemetery includes the headstones of George and Harriet Cluck, other Cluck relatives and other founding family members, including the McRaes, Jacksons and Stewarts.

New Hope Church and Cemetery (New Hope Road and US183). This marker reads, "Although the church was not formally chartered until 1868, services were likely held as early as 1848. From 1871 to 1919, the church was also used as a school. The New Hope Baptist Church, originally located on the headwaters of Blockhouse Creek, was rebuilt several times. It now stands at the intersection of US 283 and New Hope Road. Established 1869, the cemetery holds more than 70 unmarked graves, yet many headstones mark the names of well-known colonizers who shaped the community."

CEDAR PARK VOTES FOR INCORPORATION (1973)

On February 24, 1973, Cedar Park citizens voted to incorporate and almost immediately entered another period of rapid growth.

OLDEST AREA RESIDENT DISCOVERY NEAR CEDAR PARK

In 1982, during the expansion of FM 1431, archeologists discovered a female skeleton in an apparent family burial ground. The woman was lying in a fetal position, and buried with her were a grinding stone and a shark�s tooth. She dates back to around 10,500 years ago! It is one of the most remarkable Paleo-American sites yet discovered.

archeologists sifted through the Brushy Creek Burial Site is located on the south side of FM 1431 on Brushy Creek. Scientific excavations indicate the site was a major camping ground for prehistoric man, particularly during the archaic period (2000 - 8000 years ago). More than 150 fireplaces, numerous plainview points, and several types of shear points have been uncovered.

REMINISCENCES OF MR. JESSIE J. LONG, EARLY-DAY CEDAR PARK RESIDENT

Transcript-April 1980 by Ellen Seals

My grandmother Long was a full blooded Scotchman. She came over from Scotland to Tennessee when she was thirteen. Her name was Emmaline McCoy. My grandfather was Joe Long. Everybody called him Uncle Joe. He was raised in Alabama. When they came to Texas, they came to Cherokee County, lived there two or three years and moved to Caldwell County. They lived there all through the Civil War. Grandfather went all through the war. They moved up to Spicewood Springs for a couple of years and then up to Cedar Park in Williamson County. Grandfather Long bought a place from a fellow named Lloyd. He kept it for about a year but couldn't get a clear title to it, so he let him have it back and went a mile up from Cedar Park and bought six hundred acres. He improved it, built a big barn and a house, corrals and outbuildings. It was right on the Austin-Burnet road.

My grandfather on my mother's side was Jessie Blaze Jefferson Oliver. He was from Georgia. Grandmother Oliver was Parrisade Pue, don't remember ever seeing her. I was told she died when my brother and I were babies. I was named for Grandfather Oliver and my twin brother was named for my Grandfather Long. My Grandfather Oliver had a place up between Cedar Park and Leander, above my Grandfather Long's old place. Then he started a general store at Buttercup and he had a post office and blacksmith shop there. Used to be a pretty good little borough. Had a good little creek used to run through there and it was always full of water. There were worlds of springs and plenty of water in that country, then. He had a store there for several years. Had a blacksmith name of Bill Duncan. They had lots of horses to shoe, then. He had two or three little rent houses there, then and Henry Lee had a cotton gin and a corn mill.

The Lees' had come from Louisiana many years ago. Mr. Lee had two daughters and an old maid sister. They lived upon the hill above the creek where it came through Buttercup. Fellow named Newt Stewart had the post office. He met the train every morning and again every evening and brought the mail back. People over on Sandy and Cypress used to get their mail there. They didn't have rural routes then. The first rural route that came through there came from Leander in 1902. They had a post office in Abe Anderson's house in Volente. They carried mail twice a week from Cedar Park over there.

My mother was Willie Ann Oliver and she was born in Texas. Father was William Long. There were six of us children, Jessie and Joe, twins; Emma and Julia, twins; Edna and George. George was my youngest brother. He died in 1909 of typhoid fever. Emma married Olman. Julia married Heaton, and Edna married Arnold. Mother passed away December 13, 1892 and is buried at Pond Springs. All my people on her side are buried there. After mother died, dad, my brothers and I lived with my Long grandparents for a year or so. Mother had wanted her sister who lived in Burnet County to take the girls so they went up there in 1892. In 1895, my aunt and uncle left there and went out on the South Llano River, thirteen miles above Johnson City. The girls went with them and in the summer of 1896, we went out there to see them in a covered wagon. It took us about six and a half days to go from here to Johnson City.

My father had a sister on Doves River in Val Verde County. Her oldest boy had been killed and her other four boys were grown. She was lonesome and wanted us to come out there and stay with her. So, my dad give out, sold out, and went out there, the worse thing he ever done in his life. There wasn't nothing out there but cow thieves. Wasn't even a church. The nearest neighbor was five miles away. We stayed out there a year and went over to Kendall County where my uncle lived. He and my dad rented a ranch from LaSalle Wooten. We stayed there about a year.

I knew Lige Cox. I knew Mr. Den Cox. He was "Daddy of Sandy". Used to be Justice of the Peace over there. He would give a big barbecue over there every 4th of July. I knew everybody on Sandy Creek, all the way from the head of it to the mouth of it. There was Taylor Preece; he had a bunch of boys. Had one they called Chub. He was older than I was and we used to run together some. Had one boy named Al. I knew all the Colleys and the Shermans too. The Colleys lived down on Sandy. Mr. Jim Colley had four boys and three girls; one girl married Paul Trammel. There were five Shermans. Mr. Bill Sherman had two or three boys and Bob Sherman had a couple of daughters and one son, Walter. Walter was about my age and he got run over here in Austin back in the '30s sometime. He had started to church over there on Second Street one night and somebody ran over him and killed him. They never caught whoever did it. Bart Cluck and Edmond Cluck both married Sherman girls. Used to see them at church at Pleasant Hill.

They used to run a stage from Austin to Burnet. There was a stage house up at Bagdad. A long time ago, Mr. Heinetz had a store there and Doc Jennings had a little partition and had an office and drug store in the back. The world was full of Jennings and Faubions in that country back up there, and a big lot of Masons. The Masons owned about half of that country and they had worlds of horses. These mountains were full of horses; horses wild as deer, and worlds of longhorn cattle. There were four Mason brothers; John, Alf, Neal and Charlie. Don't think there are any Masons left up there now.

The Masons used to take their horses up to Dodge City and Leavenworth, Kansas. A lot of those old people went up the trail. If I had been a little older before the trail driver days played out, I would have gone, too. I liked to handle cattle and liked to ride and I sure wanted to go.

My father and grandfather said after they had settled on the place above Cedar Park, that Indians came as far down as Liberty Hill. John Nobles and Green Nobles were raised there and they helped fight the Indians. In 1905, the government gave them $5,000 apiece for fighting the Indians. Only one Nobles girl left and she will be 92 this September. Green Nobles had three boys and five girls, all scattered now.

I saw my first barbed wire in Russell Gabriel, Burnet County in 1891.

I had an uncle named W. 0. Rutledge. He was on the police force in Austin for thirty years. He told me that one time he and two more fellows decided they would go out and round them up some cattle. There were lots of cattle around. They went out and he branded eight head and they were coming in late that evening and one fellow in the bunch had a sack of smoking tobacco and a pipe and my uncle traded the eight head of cattle for the pipe and smoking tobacco. Cattle were cheap then. One cattleman told me that he drove an old cow over in the mountains one winter and drove her out in the spring with eighty calves. In 1895 and '96 you could buy a grown cow for four or five dollars, you could buy a good horse for fifteen or twenty dollars. Then, you were lucky to get two and a half or three cents a pound for cotton. You couldn't sell cotton seed at all. The ginners wouldn't even take them for the ginning. All they could do was haul the cotton seed out and set them afire. If they just poured them out the cattle would eat too many and it would kill them.

I've known Leona Williamson every since she was a little girl. Her daddy's grandfather, Mr. Huddleston, used to have lots of cattle and owned lots of land up there at Bagdad Prairie. I don't think Mr. Huddleston had any boys. He had four girls. One of then married Dr. Jennings, one married a McDaniels and one of them married a Williamson. One time a Mr. Snyder and his son, Dud Snyder, bought a big ranch and Mr. Huddleston loaned them 60,000 dollars at one time and never took a scratch of pen for it. Jim Williamson had two sons and two daughters. Mrs. Williamson was a Hamilton and was one of the finest women I ever saw and the best cook I ever saw. She was a great woman. Mr. Williamson was a good man. They called him "Whittle Jim". He has worn out more pocket knives than a freight train could haul. I worked for him for about three months one time. Ernest Hamilton married Lula Dyer. Lula Dyer was the first sweetheart I ever had. My grandfather Long is buried at Bagdad Cemetery. Lots of friends are buried there and I've been to many a funeral there.

There was a bunch of Allens. There were seven boys and three girls. Lived down at Pleasant Hill. George Allen was the oldest son lie was a big man, not fat, just big. He owned the rock quarry at Whitestone, where he lived. His pasture fence was just the other side of the fence from our pasture. In those days you could see all the way to Cedar Park. There wasn't any underbrush, just timber. There was Post Oak, Black Jack, Live Oak, Cedar and Elm.

A long time ago, when I was a little kid, Cedar Park was called Brueggerhoff. In 1881, Linedecker and his son built the narrow gauge railroad from Austin to Granite Mountain to haul rock for the capitol. In later years they ran it on into Llano. It was Austin and Northwestern, AN&NW. It remained narrow gauge until 1902 and the H&TC bought it out and made it a standard gauge. They kept it for a while and then they sold it to T&NO. The SP took it over from the T&NO and they call it the Windy now. "Going up Windy."

I knew all the Clucks, every one of them. Can tell you the names of all of then and who they married. The oldest boy was Emmett, then Euell, John, Clarence, Dave, Alvin and Tom. These were George Cluck's children. Seven boys and three girls. The oldest girl was Allie. She married Abe Anderson. Minnie was the next one and she married Clay Mason. Julia married S. A. Friedsam. They lived at Cedar Park. There used to be a big spring right there at George Cluck's house, you could step right out of his back door at that spring that ran a whole creek. On the west side of it there were big willow trees, the largest ever grown. There used to be good fish in there. You could swim horses in there the year round. One time George Cluck was gathering cattle down on Sandy. His horse got so tenderfooted he shod him with shingle nails and rode him on home. Uncle George was a great old fellow.

George Cluck had a brother named Bob. Bob moved to the other side of Georgetown. Mr. Bill Cluck lived down around Pleasant Hill. He had seven boys and three girls. The middle girl was a good looking woman and the youngest one, Annie, was a fine looking girl and a good girl, too. She sure did like to dance and she was as pretty a waltzer as you've ever seen. Another brother was Joe Cluck who had a daughter and two sons, Joe and John. When Joe and his wife died, Uncle George raised his son, Joe. Young Joe never did much but work cattle. In 1899, he went out west to what they call the XIT Ranch. He never die come back no more. Don't know if he is living or not. Uncle Billy Dalton raised John. The sister married Joe Davis.

When Tom Young was in jail, charged with murder, my twin brother and I went to see him. It was in 1906 in Georgetown, Lots of people went to the jail to see him. I knew the Sheriff, Mr. Connell. He was raised up above Leander and he was a mighty fine man and a good sheriff. We went in and asked him if we could see Tom Young and he said we could, but Tom Young had gotten pretty smart and had been hanging his blanket up so he couldn't be seen and you had to pay to see him. Anyway, we went in and sure enough the blanket was up. He said, "Oh hell, I'll get you to pay me some money now." My brother asked him how much he wanted and Tom Young said, "How many's out there?" After being told that there was two of us, he said, "Twenty-five cents apiece." We gave him twenty-five cents and he pulled the blanket down. "This is the man they call Torn Young, is it?" my brother asked. Tom Young said, "Yeah, this is the man that wears horns!"

They hung Tom Young for murder on the 30th day of March 1906. It was said that 10,000 people witnessed it and I think they were all there. The word was that if Tom Young didn't hang, they were going to get a mob and do it. There were a lot of people came down and camped there the night before. They hung him out there on the county farm on the prairie. There weren't many cars then; they were pretty scattered. As far as you could see there were wagons, buggies and horses. My friend and I got out there about eight o'clock that morning and a fellow had a big bag around his shoulders and he was selling pictures of Tom Young taken the day before in jail, in shackles and chains, for a quarter. My friend bought one but I didn't want one. I don't ever want to see another hanging.

The first time I ever saw Mae Walden was in May of 1908. It was at the church in Pond Springs; they call it Jollyville now. My daddy had sold the old homeplace and we had moved down to Rutledge, about two miles from the church. I went over to church one Sunday morning, and Theodore Heaton and I were standing by the double doors to the church house and she came riding up on a little pacing horse that belonged to her daddy. She had on a black skirt and a white waist and a sailor hat with a polka dot veil over it. Theo was going with her at that time and he wanted to marry her. When she came by us, I asked him, "Who is that pretty girl?" He said, "That's my girl. That's Mae Walden." I made the remark that she was going to be mine if I could get her. I didn't have any idea I'd ever get her, though, and I never got well acquainted with her until after I left here and went out to McCullough County in October of that year and came back about a year later. Then I saw her again.

There was a picnic over on Bull Creek. I had a good horse and buggy then and I went. Mae's uncle, Mr. Cromeans, lived over there and he had a big Elm tree and they had a picnic there every summer. It was on the 24th day of June, 1910. Mae was there with her cousin and his wife and they asked me to eat dinner with them. We got to talking and about nine months after that we were married.

People kept on telling me why didn't I quit riding those stiff legged horses so much and get a job on the section, that when you get to be a section foreman, you don't have to work, just see to it that the other fellows work. You also get a house to live in and a check every month and it pays more money than most anything else. So we moved into Austin and I went to work for the railroad in 1916.

I remember when Austin was mud streets. Congress Avenue was just a gravel street and there was water running along the side of it. When you got past 11th Street, there wasn't much but little grocery stores and saloons. There wasn't much in South Austin then.

Note: Parrisade Oliver died 28 April 1887, age 62 years. J.B.J. Oliver, born 20 Dec. 1811, died 16 Dec. 1895. They are buried in Walden Cemetery, Williamson Co., Texas.

Note: Mr. Long was one week shy of his 95th birthday when this interview was held.

POSTMASTERS OF EARLY-DAY CEDAR PARK SETTLEMENTS

RUNNING BRUSHY

Sutton, Joel, 27 Feb 1874
Cluck, Mrs. Harriet, 22 Dec 1874
Discontinued 29 Jly 1880


BUTTERCUP

Dodd, Lillie L., 20 Jan 1880
Crumley, B. T., 3 Oct 1881
Clark, Frank S., 7 Nov 1881
Discontinued 20 Jan 1882
(Re-established) Oliver, Jos. B. J., 21 Dec 1883
Discontinued 2 Jly 1884; mail to Duval
[Apparently re-established]
Oliver, Jos. B. J., 8 Aug 1888
Discontinued 12 Jan 1894; papers to Cedar Park

BRUEGERHOFF

Crumley, Sanford I., 5 Jun 1882
Discontinued 27 Aug 1883; mail to Leander
(Re-established) Isaacks, Wesley C., 1 Apr 1884
Cg'd to CEDAR PARK, 25 Aug 1887

BUTTERCUP

Dodd, Lillie L., 20 Jan 1880
Crumley, B. T., 3 Oct 1881
Clark, Frank S., 7 Nov 1881
Discontinued 20 Jan 1882
(Re-established) Oliver, Jos. B. J., 21 Dec 1883
Discontinued 2 Jly 1884; mail to Duval
[Apparently re-established]
Oliver, Jos. B. J., 8 Aug 1888
Discontinued 12 Jan 1894; papers to Cedar Park

CEDAR PARK

Isaacks, Wesley C., 25 Aug 1887
Discontinued 26 Apr 1888; papers to Leander
(Re-established) McKeown, Wm. B., 4 Feb 1889
Discontinued 19 Jun 1889; papers to Leander
[Apparently re-established]
Cluck, Emmett, 5 Apr 1892
Cluck, Mrs. Ara V., 5 Nov 1929

CEDAR PARK TODAY

The vote in favor of allowing Capital Metro to operate an urban commuter rail service from Leander and Cedar Park through northwest and east Austin and into the downtown area is a boom to growth in the Cedar Park area. The Downtown/ Northwest Urban Commuter Rail Service is part of Capital Metro's All Systems Go Long-Range Transit Plan to help address the region's expected population growth, which is estimated to double within the next 25 years.

Cedar Park is transforming itself from being The Cedar Chopper Capital of the World to a large town town with an outstanding school district (Leander Independent School District). Forward thinking City leaders are clearing the way for orderly but rapid growth for Cedar Park in the next few years. A new Cedar Park High School is already built and the 2005 football team that was top in their district this year.

Cedar Park used to be home to mid-level workers, with the average price for a home between $80,000 to $150,000. Now more executives live in the area, and because of the of roadways they can make the commute to one of the major employers such as Dell, Motorola or Apple quickly. Homes now average anywhere between $150,000 to $300,000 to move into Cedar Park."

New Cedar Park Event Center

A new $55 million Cedar Park event center will soon be the home of the Dallas Stars' American Hockey League affiliate and will seat 6,800 people for hockey games and 8,000 for concerts and other events.

The 181,640-square-foot facility will sit on 31 acres at New Hope Road and the 183-A tollway and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2009.

The city will own the center, and Hicks Sports Marketing Group, which owns the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers, will operate it. The developer is Hunt Construction. The Hicks group is also planning to develop a retail area on 17 acres along the 183-A toll.



Map of Area Toll Roads

183A is the first toll road project being built from the ground up and extends 11.6 miles from SH 45/RM620 near the southern boundary of Cedar Park to the San Gabriel River north of Leander. The toll road basically runs parallel to the existing US183.

CEDAR PARK LIBRARY IS TOP NOTCH

The Cedar Park Public Library was for the third consecutive time has been awarded a $50,000 Literate Community Grant from the Dell Foundation. The grant is awarded every two years, with the library receiving $25,000 per year.

The money is used to support such programs as the children's, summer reading program, adult enrichment programs and computer classes. The awards are due in part to increased usage from the community and the fantastic services that the library staff providesThe grant will also be used to bring in performers and speakers for library programs and special events. The purchase of new computers and other materials is also planned.

The Cedar Park Public Library is located at 550 Discovery Blvd., and is open Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. The entire library catalog can be found online at www.ci.cedar-park.tx.us /library.



This is a web page under construction. Come back and visit with us over the coming weeks and contribute your old photos and stories as you can.

LEONARD KUBIAK's TEXAS HISTORY WEB PAGES

Also see our history links near the bottom of of the Fort Tumbleweed Home Page. I spend a great deal of time researching Texas history and adding topics of interest to our website for our internet viewers.

The site is constantly growing. Bookmark us and come back often (and tell your friends about us).

Thanks,
Len Kubiak