Welcome to the Bastrop County Historical Commission (BCHC)
We hope you will find this site informative and educational. The BCHC is an arm of the county government appointed by the Commissioners Court for the purpose of documenting the history of the communities within Bastrop County, and educating the public. If you are searching for historical information about Bastrop County cemeteries, historic landmarks, or any other history-related question you may have, we hope to provide answers.
If you have any questions not addressed here, have suggestions for the website, or information you would like to share, please contact us.
Quarterly Meetings
All quarterly meetings are held from 2 to 4 p.m. on the second Thursday of March, June, September and December (unless otherwise noted in the public notice,) at the Bastrop County Courthouse Annex, directly to the south of the historic Courthouse. BCHC quarterly meetings provide an open invitation to the public to bring new projects to our attention, to learn more about the mission of BCHC, and to find your “niche” in our historical efforts. We look forward to working with you to acknowledge and preserve our remarkable historic sites.
For more information about Bastrop County, go to our partners at ExploreBastropCounty.com or to BastropCountyHistoricalSociety.com.
What’s Happening in Bastrop County
Bastrop County Historical Commission - Texas
The purpose of this organization is to promote and preserve the history of Bastrop County by encouraging knowledge, understanding and an appreciation of Bastrop County’s past through research, documentation and recognition of its notable historic sites.
We hope you had a great David Herrington Day! David is one of the BCHC members, and we’re so proud to have him on board.Don't forget, today is David Herrington Day!
This month, the City of Smithville proclaimed Oct. 29, 2026 as David Herrington Day, which is fitting for a man who has spent his life making sure Smithville remembers its own.
Herrington was born in Smithville on October 29, 1936, raised here, and came home when he retired.
He co-authored "Images of America: Smithville," the photo history of the town. He writes remembrances of early Texas figures that almost nobody else remembers anymore, like Henry Mordorff, a San Jacinto veteran who lies buried near Smithville.
He built a website devoted to the forgotten founders of our corner of Texas, chief among them Dr. Thomas Gazley, who settled this land in 1827 and started the 200-year story that became Smithville.
But Herrington didn't just record the town's story. He added to it.
When he was well into his 70s, Herrington helped bring the Smithville Community Clinic to life so people who couldn't afford medical care were not without it. In 2015, he helped clear the land and raise the money for Independence Park, built on the very spot where Gazley first settled.
Herrington still sits down with the Burleson family when they come to research their roots, even though their ancestor killed the descendants of Gazley, his personal hero. He loves history too much to hold a grudge against it.
Judge for 25 years. Freemason for 60. And in his younger days, an airshow parachutist who used to jump from planes and land on Main Street during Jamboree.
To say the man has lived a full Smithville life would be an understatement.
For 90 years, David Herrington has made sure Smithville remembers the people who came before. Now the town has made sure it will remember him.
Happy birthday, David 🥳
Some of our BCHC members have contributed their families’ ofrendas for the Bastrop County Historical Society Museum’s annual exhibit. The exhibit is open and free to the public through November 2nd.
Southern Pacific #894 obscures the Elgin Union Depot in the background as it passes Tower 100 eastbound in this undated photo. (Bruce Wilson collection)