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Cedar Park born by creek and cedar trees

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Written by Amy Stansbury Sunday, 07 May 2006

About the same time Texas became a state in 1845, farmers from Kentucky and Tennessee began settling in present day Cedar Park, growing cotton, wheat, corn and other vegetables. The New Hope Baptist Church was formed in 1848 and held services in log cabin homes for 20 years before becoming formally chartered in October 1868, by James and Elizabeth Trammell. The church was then called the New Hope Baptist Church of Christ, and Rev. Thomas F. Bacon was the first pastor.

Photo of Brushy Creek Train - 1886 Around that time, James Stuart and his wife Caroline Standifer moved into the area from Alabama. One of their daughters, Harriet, “Hattie,” married a local cattle farmer named George Washington Cluck in 1863.

After having three children, the couple packed up their family to drive two herds of cattle along the Chisholm Trail to Abilene, Kansas in 1871. Harriet was the first woman to travel along the trail. The long trip took about six months and once they arrived, Harriet’s fourth child was born. After waiting out the cold winter, the family returned to Williamson County that spring.

Cluck used the money he earned from the cattle sale to buy 320 acres of land that ran along Running Brushy Creek. After the Clucks built their log cabin home near a spring that fed the creek, other families settled nearby and the town of Running Brushy was formed. Joel Sutton was the first postmaster, until Harriet Cluck took over in December 1874.

The Austin and Northwestern Railroad Company extended the rail line from Austin to Burnet in 1882, routing it through Running Brushy. The town’s name was changed to Brueggerhoff in 1883 to honor a railroad official and friend of George Cluck’s. However, Brueggerhoff was hard to pronounce, remember and spell.

So just five years later in 1887, George and Hattie’s son, Emmett renamed the town Cedar Park for its pleasant, park-like features and prominent cedar trees. In 1892, Cluck sold a portion of his land to the railroad company with the stipulation that a portion be set aside for a park.

The beautiful park had extensive landscaping with flowers, benches and pebbled walkways, attracting people from all over Central Texas who traveled via train to picnic and spend the day. The park was considered one of the first country clubs in the Austin area.