Schwertner

Schwertner is on Farm Road 487 near the Bell county line forty-six miles north of Austin in north central Williamson County. It was named for Bernard Schwertner and his sons, Frank, Edward, and Adolf, Austrian immigrants who settled in the fertile farming area in 1877. The community was established by Adolf Schwertner, who built a cotton gin there in 1903 and donated land for a townsite when the Bartlett Western Railway arrived in 1909. In 1912 the town opened a post office, which was still in operation in 1990. By 1915 the community had several retail stores, a bank, a Baptist church, a weekly newspaper, a brass band, a boarding house, a saloon, a physician, and a blacksmith. The population rose from an estimated ten in 1925 to 500 by the late 1920s but declined to 100 by 1933. The Bartlett and Western ended its service in 1935. The population climbed back up to 200 in 1941 and remained stable until 1962. From 1963 to 1990 it was estimated at 150. Schwertner became part of the Bartlett school system in 1954. In 1986 the town had a post office, a bank, a gin, and two retail businesses. The population was 150 in 2000, and 175 in 2014.