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LLANO,
TEXAS"The Granite
City"
They use all they can and they sell the rest.
Llano County
Seat, Hill
Country
State Highways 16, 29, and 71
FM 152
73 miles
NW of Austin
30 miles W of Burnet
34 miles E of Mason
33 miles S of
San
Saba
39 miles N of Fredericksburg
Population:
3,325 (2000) 2,962 (1990)
Book
Your Hotel Here & Save: Llano
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The date at
the ruins of the Llano Waterworks Smokestack
TE photo |
Llano
Landmarks Include:
Llano
County CourthouseLlano
County JailRoy
Inks BridgeRailroad
Through Truss Bridge Old
Masonic Lodge: 102 E. Main
Fraser
House: - 207 E. Main
Historical
Museum: 310 Bessemer Street
Badu
House: - 601 Bessemer Street
The
Masonic Temple: - 832 Ford Street
The
Llano County Library: 900 Ford Street
Old
Ice House - on the river on Berry Street
Llano
Chamber of Commerce
Contact the chamber for a detailed walking tour of Llano.
700 Bessemer, Llano, Texas 78643 325-247-5354
Website: http://www.llanochamber.org/
Llano
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The Masonic Lodge
in downtown Llano
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Llano
RecreationEnchanted
Rock State Natural Area
325/247-3903
Hwy 16 South for 14 miles, then
west on Ranch Road 965.
16710 Ranch Rd 965
Fredericksburg TX 78624
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/enchantd/
Llano
River - and The Slab near Kingsland TexasLlano
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| | Downtown
Llano at dusk
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History in a Pecan Shell
Land donated by John Oatman, Sr., Amariah
Wilson, and the Chester B. Starks estate provided 250 acres for the county seat.
The donated land was on both sides of the Llano River. The county was raided by
Indians during the Civil War when most of the men were fighting. Llano had a very
high percentage of votes for secession - which is evident by the Confederate statue
on the NE side of the square. |
A
time line of significant events in Llano history:
1856: Llano County is established by the state legislature. A disputed
election that same year was held under a tree on the south side of the river to
determine the county seat of government. The losing faction were residents of
the Tow- Bluffton region - north of present Llano.
1880s: The Llano
Rural - Llano's first newspaper was published. The second was The Iron City News.
The Rural evolved amd merged into other newspapers, including the Advocate, the
Searchlight, and the Gazette. Just after the turn of the 20th Century it became
the Llano News - the name it retains today.
1886 - 1893: Boom times
for Llano when iron deposits were discovered and investment money flowed.
1890s: Llano suffers a series of fires that were set for insurance claims.
Other businesses were consumed as well as when word got out - insurance companies
refused to sell Llano fire insurance for several years.
1890: Population
is said to have been 7,000 people
1892:
Llano was incorporated, the Llano River was bridged,
and the Austin and Northwestern Railroad opened a depot on the north side of the
Llano River. This
was also the year the courthouse burned.
See Llano
County Courthouse >
1935:
The Roy
Inks Bridge was built after a flood swept away the 1892 bridge. Photos of
both the Algona Hotel fire and the 1935 flood can be seen in the museum.
In the famous drought of the early 50s - the Llano River actually went dry
on two separate occasions.
1936: Llano
Gold by Mike Cox ("Texas Tales" column)
"Washed in golden
sunset, from a distance Llano County's Sharp Mountain looks like a giant Paleolithic
flint hide scraper lying on its side.
At 1,594 feet above sea level,
the landmark barely deserves its mountain designation. Its summit rising 400 feet
above the land around it, the huge pile of cedar-studded rock sits on private
property about five miles southeast of Llano. Few today know about the long-abandoned
mine shafts the mountain hides..." more
1954: The Great
Llano Uranium Boom by Mike Cox' ("Texas Tales" column)
"Since Texas' time as a colonial outpost of the Spanish crown, people
have believed great mineral wealth lay hidden in what would become Llano County..."
more |
| | One
of the several working stone finishing plants around Llano
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1950s:
Granite production becomes a million dollar per year industry
Llano's Confederate soldier statue was made by noted sculptor Frank Teich who
was instrumental in establishing the Granite Industry in Llano County. German-born,
Teich made a good living designing Confederate statues for county governments
across Texas and other southern states. He also supervised the extraction and
working of the stone for the state capitol and several monuments on the grounds.
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| | The
abundance of granite enabled Llano County to have some elegant County Line markers
- this one is on the Llano/Gillespie county line on Hwy 16.
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Llano nearly became a steel town when huge iron deposits were found. The boom
didn't last long, after someone noticed there was no coal for smelting. Many streets
in Llano have names that date from those optimistic times.
Marble and
granite production partially made up for the steel mills that never materialized.
Marble and granite was shipped all over the U.S. until the railroad went up on
their rates. Llano County today continues to be trucked away daily by the ton.
A proposed railroad link to Fredericksburg
never made it off the drawing board, but there's little doubt it would've been
a boon to the economy of both towns.
Llano
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With a Past:
Llano suffered a fire in 1923 that destroyed a former
landmark hotel on the north side of the river - The Hotel Algona. The larger-than-it-needed-to-be
hotel was at one time the center for Llano society. The hotel changed hands several
times, and did business as the Hotel Franklin and the Don Carlos. It was used
by The Texas Military Institute for a period before being damaged in a 1900 tornado.
The fire of '23 was the final chapter in the Algona's life.
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