Georgetown, Texas

Everything Georgetown is known for

2 songs mention this city 4 artists from here

Georgetown, Texas, known as the "Red Poppy Capital of Texas," also has a notable connection to music. Several artists call Georgetown home, including pop artist Conan Gray and country artists Keith Gattis, Elle Townley, and Parker Jensen. The city's musical presence is further highlighted in songs like "long walk back" by Junior Brown and "the interstate 35 waltz" by Garret T. Capps & Justin Boyd.

Georgetown embraces the artistry of Central Texas, offering a variety of music performances around town. Live music can be found at various venues, and the city also hosts the Texas Bach Festival and features performances by the Central Texas Philharmonic.

Music in Georgetown

Songs About Georgetown

Boy Weren't We Something
Croy and the Boys
55%
"Well, it’s up in Georgetown"
the interstate 35 waltz
garret t. capps & justin boyd
10%

Artists From Georgetown

C
Conan Gray
pop Pop: 79
K
Keith Gattis
country Pop: 30
E
Elle Townley
country Pop: 6
P
Parker Jensen
country Pop: 1

Rivers & Roads in Song near Georgetown

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Georgetown.

Interstate 35 42 songs Texas Colorado River 6 songs

Musical Heritage

Idle Town Was This Town RoadyGoat

The singer-songwriter Conan Gray grew up right here in Georgetown, and his hometown is not a footnote to his music, it is the music. As a high-school kid he filmed shaky vlogs about life in small-town Texas, a place he affectionately described as full of old folks, cows, and gas stations, and posted them to YouTube. In March 2017, still a senior, he self-released a song called Idle Town, an aching tribute to the very boredom and stillness of growing up in a quiet place where nothing seems to happen. He cut it on GarageBand with a microphone duct-taped to a broken lamp, skipping class to do it. The track exploded, racking up millions of streams and views and launching him toward a major-label career and sold-out tours. So when you hear Idle Town, picture these streets: the gas stations, the long empty afternoons, the small Texas town that a homesick teenager turned into one of the most relatable breakout songs of his generation. (Source: Conan Gray biography; artist interviews.)

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History of Georgetown

Georgetown, TX RoadyGoat

Georgetown is a place shaped by what lies beneath. The limestone bedrock, riddled with caves like Inner Space Cavern just south of town, is the foundation of everything. This porous rock filters the water, providing a relatively reliable source even in dry times. That water, carving its way through the land over millennia, created the gentle rolling hills and the San Gabriel River that winds its way through the heart of the city. It’s a landscape that feels both sturdy and yielding, a place where things take root easily. That relationship with the land has always been part of Georgetown's story. The decision to name it the county seat of Williamson County in 1848 wasn't just about geography, but about access to resources. The land offered opportunity, and the river provided a natural corridor for trade and movement. Even today, IH-35 follows a similar path, connecting Georgetown to the wider world. You can still feel that connection to the past here, a sense of groundedness that comes from being tied to the land itself.

Drilled Into by Accident, Lit Up for the World RoadyGoat

In 1963 a Texas Highway Department crew was doing routine core testing along the route of the new Interstate 35, drilling deep holes to check whether the ground could carry a bridge. Eight of their twenty test bores punched straight through into empty blackness. The drill rod dropped down about 33 feet, then fell another two dozen feet and jammed in stalagmites no human had ever seen. They had accidentally found a cavern. That November, the first explorers were lowered one at a time through a six-inch hole bored in solid limestone into the void below, and within weeks they had traced thousands of feet of passages decorated with formations tens of thousands of years in the making. Rather than seal it and pave over it, the discovery became Inner Space Cavern, opened to the public in 1966 and still running tours today, directly beneath the interstate that uncovered it. Drivers on I-35 pass overhead with no idea a cathedral of stone hangs in the dark beneath their tires. (Source: Inner Space Cavern; Texas highway history.)

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The Fifth Courthouse and the Square It Crowns RoadyGoat

The courthouse rising over downtown is the fifth one Williamson County has built on this square. The first were wood and brick frontier buildings; a grand Second Empire courthouse stood here too, until it was torn down to make room for the Beaux-Arts landmark you see now, finished in 1911 by Austin architect Charles H. Page for about $96,000. Wrapped around it is one of the best-preserved Victorian commercial squares in Texas, more than fifty buildings of pressed-metal facades and ornate brickwork, most dating from roughly 1870 to 1900. The whole district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and Georgetown leaned in hard, becoming an early Texas Main Street city and marketing the place as the most beautiful town square in the state. It is the kind of claim a town only makes if it has the buildings to back it up. Walk the four sides and you are circling a working county seat that never bulldozed its own past. (Source: National Register of Historic Places; Texas Historical Commission.)

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Whiteley, Eli Lamar

1944

Eli Lamar Whiteley, World War II Medal of Honor recipient, was born near Liberty Hill, Williamson County, Texas on December 10, 1913, the second son of farmers Eli Whiteley and Ruth (Hunt) Whiteley. As a youngster growing up on a farm, young Eli helped his father tend to the livestock (Angora goats and turkeys) and the crops, mostly cotton and grains. While a high school student, he participated in the Future Farmers of America and was active in sports and played football and ran track. A member of the debate club, Whiteley also participated in public speaking. He graduated from Georgetown High School on May 21, 1932. With a desire to study civil engineering and willingness to work to finance his way through school, Whiteley applied to Texas A&M for the fall term in 1932. When his father was informed by the assistant registrar that his son needed additional course work at a junior college and would only be admitted on probation, Whiteley sought employment in order to save money for school. Since job prospects in Central Texas during the Great Depression were slim, Whiteley took odd jobs wherever he could on ranches, gas stations, as a waiter, and building rock fences. His most rewarding employment was his three years with the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). After working for six years, Whiteley, wanting to major in agriculture, applied again to Texas A&M in 1938 and was accepted at the age of twenty-four. For his military science requirement, he selected the cavalry. Determined to finish college quickly, he also worked his way through school to cover costs and took two jobs-one at a Humpty Dumpty grocery store and one in a café. Whiteley took heavy course loads and attended summer sessions for three years and graduated with a B.S. degree in agriculture on August 30, 1941. Unfortunately, he failed to finish the required ROTC courses that would have led to an army officer's commission. After graduation, he departed for graduate school at North Carolina State College in Raleigh. Whiteley's plans changed with the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He informed the draft board in Brazos County to insert his name for the next call. On April 12, 1942, Whitley was drafted into the United States Army and assigned to basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas. He was then ordered to attend a three-week noncommissioned officers course that he finished on September 19 and subsequently was selected for officers training at the Infantry Officers Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Whiteley completed the course and earned a commission as a second lieutenant. He then returned to Camp Wolters to serve as a training officer. After completing the Infantry Officers Advanced Course in Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1944 and another assignment as a training officer at Camp Wolters, Whiteley was ordered to Europe and arrived in England in mid-November. On November 19, he was assigned as a rifle-platoon leader in Company L, Fifteenth Infantry Regiment, Third Infantry Division in France. When Whiteley joined his new unit, the Fifteenth were fighting the Germans in the Vosges Mountains of Alsace in eastern France. As the Allies moved closer to the Rhine River and Germany, the enemy provided a hostile reception. On December 23, the Fifteenth Infantry attacked German positions in Bennwihr and Sigolsheim. Efforts to remove the enemy in Bennwihr proved costly for Whitley's unit. Company L had entered the dangerous fighting with 125 men and had only fifty-six when the fighting ended that day. German defenders proved more difficult to remove from Sigolsheim. On December 26, Lieutenant Whitley distinguished himself as he led his platoon in "savage house-to-house fighting." Making use of a submachine gun, grenades, and a bazooka, Whiteley aggressively attacked three houses, lost an eye, suffered severe wounds, and "killed 9 Germans, captured 23 more and spearheaded an attack which cracked the core of enemy resistance in a vital area

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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

1973

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 independent horror film created by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel. The story follows a group of friends who, while visiting an old family home in rural Texas, fall prey to a cannibalistic family, with only one survivor escaping the ordeal. Among the killers is Leatherface, a former butcher and intellectually-impaired man who wears masks made of human skin and uses a chainsaw as his signature weapon. The film was the first installment in a long-lasting franchise and remains the most successful (by return on investment) in the series. Produced on a modest budget of around $140,000 and featuring mostly unknown actors from Texas, the film became a major commercial success, grossing more than $30 million domestically. Despite its limited onscreen violence, the film was banned in several countries. The British Board of Film Censors, which initially banned the film in Britain, relented in 1999, and admitted that "there is no explicit sexual element in the film, and relatively little visible violence. The film is widely regarded as one of the most influential horror movies of all time, established a cult following among horror fans, and influenced generations of filmmakers, particularly in the slasher subgenre. The film is also credited with pioneering the use of power tools as movie murder weapons and portraying killers as masked, remorseless murderers. Leatherface has become a popular culture icon, and the film is recognized as a horror classic. Hooper and Henkel struggled to find investors to help finance the film. In 1973 Warren Edward Skaaren , head of the Texas Film Commission , met with potential backers to discuss the project. He played a major role in securing $60,000 in initial funding, $40,000 of which came from Texas Tech University Vice President Bill Parsley. Parsley's attorney, Robert Kuhn, contributed $9,000, while Henkel's sister Katherine, a college student at the time, invested $1,000. Another $10,000 came from Richard Saenz, a client of one of Kuhn's associates. Before the title was finalized, several other names were considered for the film. It was initially intended to be called Saturn in Retrograde , a reference to the script's astrological themes, which were muted in the final film. This was followed by the proposed title Head Cheese , which alluded to the film's cannibalistic elements. It was then changed to Stalking Leatherface and later shortened to simply Leatherface . A week before principal photography began, the final title was settled as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre . Skaaren claimed to have originated the film's title. "Chain Saw" was written as two words in the original title, as registered with the United States Copyright Office, while later installments in the franchise spelled it as one word. The film was shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm. The cast was mostly comprised of unknowns (save for John Henry Faulk in a small role). It included Marilyn Burns as survivor Sally Hardesty, Edwin Neal as the hitchhiker, and Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface. The film marked the debut of John Larroquette, who went on to a lengthy career in television. The movie was primarily filmed at a farmhouse in rural Williamson County, which served as the home of Leatherface and his family. In 1998 the house was relocated to Kingsland, where it operated as a restaurant. The cemetery featured in the opening scene is the Bagdad Cemetery in Leander, and The Gas Station is located in Bastrop and serves as a restaurant. The dirt road featured in the film's final scene is situated in Round Rock and is now surrounded by modern development. Many of these locations have become popular tourism sites for horror movie enthusiasts. Due to the film's limited budget, the cast and crew faced difficult working conditions and a lack of accommodations. The cast wore the same clothes for all of their scenes, and the directors scavenged the area for animal remains to decorate the set. Larroquette, who provided the

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Emzy Taylor

1864

(1841-1895) Arkansas native Emzy Taylor clerked in his father's mercantile store in Georgetown before serving as a Confederate captain in the Red River campaign of the Civil War. He married Margaret Corinna Henderson in 1864 while on furlough. After the war he returned to Georgetown and took over the family business. At the forefront of Georgetown's early development, Taylor led efforts to establish the first college, national bank, regional railroad line, and water utility service. He took special pride in his formation and service as chief of the city's volunteer fire department. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995

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In Memory of George Washington Glasscock, Sr.

1810

For whom the city of Georgetown and the county of Glasscock, Texas are named. Born in Kentucky April 11, 1810. Participated in the Black Hawk War, 1832. Came to Texas in 1834 amd fought for its independence from Mexico 1835-1836. Surveyor, soldier, legislator, helped to organize Williamson County and donated 172 acres of land for the county site. Died at Austin, Texas February 28, 1868. This marker was placed by the State of Texas 1936

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Site of Marshall-Carver High School

1913

The first school for African American students in Georgetown was established in the early 20th century. Called "The Colored School," the institution served grades 1 through 8 and provided the only local educational opportunities for African Americans. The school's principal, Mr. S. C. Marshall, was an outspoken advocate of higher education. A scholar himself, he persuaded the school board to allow him to provide classes through the high school level. He named the new program "The Georgetown Colored High School," and the first student enrolled in 1913. A new high school building was erected in 1923 due to increasing enrollment. When Marshall left the school in 1930, it was renamed Marshall School in his honor. The name was changed to George Washington Carver in the 1940s. In 1962, the parents of seventeen Carver students who had been denied admission to Georgetown's white schools filed a lawsuit in U. S. District Court to force integration. The court ordered the Georgetown Independent School District to integrate one grade level per year beginning with the first grad.e Partial integration began in the fall of 1964. Convinced that gradual integration would not benefit their children, African American parents appealed the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court which upheld the lower court's verdict. Proponents of full and immediate integration engaged in a letter-writing campaign to the U. S. Attorney General, the U. S. Department of Health, education and Welfare, and the Federal Assistance Program urging another review of the case. In the fall of 1965, the Georgetown School Board agreed to a plan to complete integration of the school system by September 1967. The Carver School was permanently closed due to integration. (1999)

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Chalk, Whitfield

1840

Whitfield Chalk, millwright and soldier, was born on April 4, 1811, in Hertford County, North Carolina, the son of Rev. William Roscoe and Mary Elizabeth (Williams) Chalk. In 1823 the family moved to Maury County, Tennessee, from where Chalk immigrated to Texas in 1839. En route, all of his fellow steamboat passengers died of cholera; Chalk and the captain alone survived. Chalk first settled in Nashville, Milam County, but sometime later moved to the frontier community of Georgetown. His military service to the Republic of Texas is said to have been nearly continuous after his arrival in the new country. He participated in the battle of Plum Creek on August 12, 1840, and the battle of Salado Creek on September 18, 1842. When the Somervell expedition was organized to retaliate against the raids of Mexican generals Rafael Vásquez and Adrián Woll in 1842, Chalk was elected a lieutenant in Capt. John G. W. Pierson 's company, the Milam Mounted Riflemen. When Col. Alexander Somervell ordered the disbanding of the expedition after the seizure of Laredo, Chalk chose instead to remain with the volunteers who elected William S. Fisher as their new commander and crossed the Rio Grande on the Mier expedition . Fisher's men exhausted their supplies of food, water, and ammunition at the battle of Mier on Christmas Day 1842, and were forced to surrender to the forces of Gen. Pedro Ampudia . Chalk and William St. Clair, however, hid under a pile of sugarcane and became the only two Texans to escape capture. They then made their way out of the town in the dark and joined the small force of men under George B. Erath that had been left north of the Rio Grande. Together they returned to Texas after Fisher and the rest of his men were marched off to captivity in Mexico City. For his role in the fighting in 1842 Chalk was ultimately awarded $402.50 and 320 acres of bounty land in Milam County. He returned to Georgetown, where, on August 5, 1844, he was elected major of the Second Regiment of the First Militia Brigade. After two years he resigned the commission. During the Mexican War Chalk served as a private in Capt. Shapley P. Ross 's company of Texas Rangers , assigned to the defense of the frontier between the Little River and the San Gabriel River against Indian raids. On August 9, 1847, Chalk married Mary Elizabeth Fleming. His brother, Rev. John Wesley Chalk, performed the ceremony. In 1848 Chalk was elected sheriff of Williamson County, and at the same time another brother, Ira Ellis Chalk, was elected district clerk. In 1850 Chalk was living in Milam County, where he was employed as a millwright. At the time he owned $3,000 in real estate. Ten years later he had moved to Belton, where he and Ira Chalk founded a lumber and grist mill on Salado Creek near Salado. By that time he owned $3,600 in real estate and some $400 in personal property. In 1870 a special act of the state legislature awarded veterans' benefits to Chalk as a survivor of the Mier expedition, and in 1873 he joined the Texas Veterans Association . That same year he moved his family to Kempner in Lampasas County. In December 1881 a nephew, Ellis Chalk, was charged with the murder of a deputy sheriff in Belton. Whitfield Chalk died at his Lampasas County home on May 18, 1902. On Texas Independence Day, 1944, a marker was erected at his grave, with full military honors from the United States government. He had nine children.

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Things to Do in Georgetown

quirky 25.0 mi away
Willie Nelson's Luck Ranch

Willie built his own ghost town on his Spicewood ranch for the 1986 movie Red Headed Stranger -- a whole frontier village with a saloon chapel livery and…
nature 1.9 mi away
Inner Space Cavern

Texas Highway Department drillers punched into this cave in 1963 while testing the ground for an Interstate 35 overpass in Georgetown. The drill bit dropped…
food 8.5 mi away
Round Rock Donuts

Texas-sized golden donuts from a bakery dating to the 1920s — the giant 'Round Rock Donut' has drawn dawn lines and a Man v. Food cameo.
food 16.5 mi away
Louie Mueller Barbecue

Taylor's legendary BBQ since 1949. The soot-blackened walls tell the story.
quirky 21.3 mi away
Texas Chain Saw Massacre Gas Station

The original 1974 filming location is now a BBQ restaurant. Life imitates art.
quirky 22.4 mi away
Mount Bonnell

The highest point in Austin is only seven hundred and seventy-five feet but the view over Lake Austin and the hills rolling west is the best sunset in the…
historical 22.2 mi away
Kitchens & Landers Sinclair Station

A full-service Sinclair gas station at 5517 Cameron Road circa 1955. White-wall tires and credit card signs — Austin before the interstates.
day trip
Day Trip to Georgetown 🎸 (FULL EPISODE) S4 E13

Featured on The Daytripper — a full-episode local travel guide.

Sports in Georgetown

🏆 STATE CHAMPIONS Class 5A · Baseball · 2022

Georgetown Eagles — 2022 UIL 5A Baseball State Champions

Most recent: 2022 5A

Georgetown High School, a Class 5A powerhouse in the heart of Texas, has a proud baseball tradition. The Eagles secured a UIL State Championship in 2022, marking a significant achievement for the program. This success on the diamond reflects the consistent effort and talent nurtured within the community.

The Georgetown baseball program has also been a springboard for several athletes who have gone on to play professionally or at major collegiate levels. Notable alumni include Taylor Jungmann, Corey Knebel, and Andrew McKirahan, all of whom honed their skills on the Georgetown fields before moving on to higher levels of competition.

State titles
2022
Most recent
2022
Class
5A
Key Players
  • Taylor Jungmann — , professional baseball player
  • Corey Knebel — , All-Star MLB player
  • Andrew McKirahan — , professional baseball player
The moment

The 2022 5A UIL State Championship stands as a high point in Georgetown High School baseball history.

Sources: Wikipedia · UIL State Championship Archives · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Georgetown

523 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Georgetown on the Map
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