The United States Post Offices of Bastrop County have played a vital role in connecting the region’s communities since the mid-1800s, serving as both communication hubs and social centers. The first official post office in Bastrop was established in 1839, just three years after Texas declared independence, marking the town as an important point along early mail routes between Austin and the Gulf Coast. As settlements expanded, smaller post offices appeared in places like Elgin, McDade, Paige, and Smithville, each becoming a focal point of community life where residents exchanged news, goods, and ideas. Many of these early offices were housed in general stores or private homes, reflecting the frontier spirit of resourcefulness and connection. Over time, with the advent of the railroad and later rural free delivery, Bastrop County’s postal network evolved from a handful of outposts into a modern system that still anchors the county’s towns and preserves a tangible link to its pioneer past.
History of the local Post Offices
In Bastrop, a United States post office was established in 1846. The 1897 building at 906-908 Main then served as Bastrop’s second post office for more than 50 years. The building started out as a meat market before becoming the post office in 1906 under the direction of postmistress Mrs. Sally Brooks. In the 1940s, the interior wall was opened up to make one large post office to better serve the needs of the growing community and the soldiers of Camp Swift. However, the USPS moved to the current post office two blocks away to better serve their customers.
The original post office for the Elgin area was at Young’s Settlement in 1849, and the Perry Young, the son of pioneer settler Michael Young, was postmaster from 1858-1861. This post office was discontinued in 1872 as the railroad influenced the population and business needs. The current post office in Elgin, Texas, was constructed with funds from the federal Treasury Department in 1938 as part of the New Deal projects, and designed by Louis A. Simon, for this growing railroad town.
Originally, Smithville, Texas, was laid out on 640 acres granted to Thomas J. Gazley and Lewis Lomas, located on the Colorado River in what is now the northeast section of the town. It flourished with mercantile stores, dry goods shops, and a Masonic Lodge, with its first post office opening in 1876 under Postmaster John Pride Jones. The historic post office in Smithville, Texas was constructed in 1937 with federal Treasury Department funds. The building, which houses an example of New Deal artwork, is still in use today.
New Deal Murals
In the 1930s and 1940s in the midst of the Great Depression, artists painted murals in public places to that the art was accessible to everyone as part of the New Deal program under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Bastrop County boasts two such murals out of 60 commissioned in Texas by the Works Progress Administration and the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (TSFA). In 1940 using oil paint, Julius Woeltz of San Antonio painted “Texas Farm” in the Elgin Post office lobby. Minette Teichmueller of La Grange painted “The Law – Texas Rangers” in the lobby of the Smithville Post Office.
