Site of Early Bastrop County Fort

In the late 1820s a group of families settled in this area as a part of Stephen F. Austin's second colony. Included in this group were the Winslow Turner, Stephan Cottle, and Ahijah M. Highsmith families, who came to Texas from Lincoln County, Missouri. They were later joined by other families, including the Whites, Crafts, Grimeses, Ridgeways, and Parkers. For defense purposes, they built a log fort at the juncture of the Colorado River and Alum Creek (south of this site) and placed their cabins near the fort.

During the 1830s, settlers established churches, schools, and communities around the fort and in neighboring areas on land given to them in return for their colonization efforts. Alum Creek, Craft's Prairie, Yeupon, Cottletown, Antioch, and Mount Pleasant were some of the names given to these settlements. A post office was established, and a number of early sawmills in Bastrop County were located near the fort site.

It is not certain when the fort was razed. Though no physical evidence remains, the site is important as a reminder of early Bastrop County settlement and of the harshness of life during the early years of colonization in Texas. (1984).