Ah, Round Rock. This northern city, flanked by Cedar Park and Pflugerville, is home to 123,876 residents, making it Austin’s most populous suburb.
And it was named after a round rock in a creek. No, we’re not joking.
The community was founded in 1851 as a settlement along Brushy Creek, marked by a round-ish, table-shaped stone at an integral low-water crossing for travelers. Although the town was originally named after the creek, it would be renamed to “Round Rock” in 1854 in the rock’s honor.
According to the Texas Historical Commission, wagon wheel tracks are still visible at the bottom of creek.
You can see the very same rock today at Chisholm Trail Street in the middle of Brushy Creek. Many of the post-Civil War era buildings, including the city’s first post office and Owen House — a.k.a. the Saint Charles Hotel — still stand in the city’s historic old town.