Burnet

Formed January 5, 1852 (91^st county)

Burnet County (49,123), Burnet (6,423), Marble Falls (7,071)

The granite and glass structure, built in 1937, is on the square at the intersection of Main and Washington.  United States Highway 281 and Texas State Highway 29 intersect one block north and west.  The Texas Renaissance building’s designers were Lewis Milton Wirtz and Herald Calhoun.  The building was enlarged in 1974 and restored in 2003.  Hamilton has also served as the county seat and one earlier courthouse was in Burnet.  The county was founded on January 5, 1852 from parts of Bell, Travis, and Williamson counties as the 91^st county.  The county and county seat were named for David G. Burnet who was the first provisional president of the Republic of Texas. 

Burnet County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  Two District Court Judges serve Burnet, Blanco, Llano, and San Saba counties and Two County Court Judges serve Burnet County.  The county is in the hill country west of Austin, Texas.  The Colorado River is the western border of the county.  The county center is 2.6 miles Northeast of Burnet.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lampasas, Bell, Williamson, Travis, Blanco, Llano, and San Saba counties. 

The area of the county is 995 square miles.  It is 74 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 70 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 49.4 persons per square mile making it 73 out of 254 in the state.  Burnet County has 51.0% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 183 cuts across the northeast corner of the county from Lampasas County on the north to Williamson County on the east.  United States Highway 281 goes north to south, Lampasas County to Blanco County.  Another of the funnel shaped counties has Burnet located west and a little south of center.  Marble Falls is in the southwest quarter of the county.  Burnet is the county seat and Marble Falls is the largest city.  Burnet is 13.1% of the county population while Marble Falls is 14.4% of the county population.  The county and county seat are pronounced BURN-ET.