SWEDISH COMMUNITIES IN TEXAS

GEORGETOWN

(Severin)

Biographies Alf. L. Scott and T. J. Westerberg

When Williamson County was organized in 1848, a commission was set up to find a suitable place for the county seat. One of the oldest settlers in the area. Colonel George W. Glasscock, offered to donate part of his land to the commission to lay out a town and since the area was considered suitable, the commission accepted his offer. The town was laid out the same year, and it was named Georgetown after George Glasscock. For a long time, Georgetown was the only town in the county, but the move to the town was so slow that ten years later there were only 200 inhabitants. The only buildings were the town hall, which was built of stone, four churches, a Methodist, a Christian, a Baptist, and a Presbyterian church, and a boys’ and girls’ school.

For thirty years, there was no railroad closer than the coast until 1876 when the first railroad was built through Williamson County, and in 1878 it came to Georgetown. A few years later, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad was built through Georgetown to Austin. With this new communication and transportation, immigration increased and town and community grew rapidly. Georgetown has long been known as a seat of learning. Southwestern University was founded there over forty years ago. That university is the largest property of the Methodist Church and was founded in Georgetown in 1873, when Georgetown donated land and buildings to that university to a value of $63,000.

Like most other towns in Texas, Georgetown has kept up with the times. The old stone buildings have almost all been replaced by new and modern ones. We can particularly mention the new City Hall which is a great asset to the town. The business section is also renovated with spacious and modern stores. Among the larger Swedish businesses are: the Lindell, Peterson & Hamiltons’ Hardware Store, the S. A. Heard Grocery Store, the Stromberg-Hoffman Clothing Store, the Swenson Hotel, and several smaller businesses. In 1910, the town had 3,096 inhabitants. Around the town, the Swedish communities are located next to each other, Brushy, Georgetown, and Berry’s Creek, which are suppliers and customers in Georgetown. The Swedish Methodists have a valuable church and parsonage there. In the so-called Georgetown Community, there are over four hundred Swedes. Many of them are of a younger generation; children and grandchildren of the area’s pioneer families. Many of the older generation have retired and have settled down in town; others have passed away.

With the exception of some of the very first ones, most people moved there in the 1880’s.

Extracted from: Swedes In Texas In Words and Pictures,

English Translation, 1838 - 1918