Bertram

Cotton made Bertram's best years. After 1900 the town shipped cotton, cattle and wool, and in 1928 its gins handled a record 11,624 bales. Then cotton prices collapsed with the Depression, and the population fell from about 1,000 in 1929 to 550 by 1931. In the late 1980s local industry made ceramic floor and paving tiles, marble fixtures and molded plastics. Since 1978 the town has held an Oatmeal Festival on Labor Day weekend, begun as a spoof of the chili cook-offs held in so many small Texas towns.

What the plaque says

Bertram The town of Bertram was founded in 1882 when the Austin and Northwestern Railroad established a route through the area. The community was named for Rudolph Bertram, an Austin merchant who was instrumental in the development of the rail line. Many early residents were from the settlement of South Gabriel (2 mi. SE). Homes and commercial buildings of the pioneer settlers were moved here by brothers L. R. and J. W. Gray. The first store, also relocated from South Gabriel, was run by James E. Riley and Capt. Tom D. Vaughan. Bertram developed as a marketing center for the area's diversified agricultural production. Continued growth came during World War I when the demand for farm and ranch products increased. By the 1920s it was the site of auto dealerships, four banks, a newspaper, a hotel and a variety of other businesses. The economic depression of the 1930s, World War II and improved methods of transportation combined to limit Bertram's growth. Incorporated in the 1970s, the town remains an agricultural center. It serves as a reminder of the pioneers who settled here over a century ago. Many of their descendants still live in the area and serve as leaders of the community. (1982)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge: Doeskin Ranch — 8.7 mi
  A free federal refuge north of Lake Travis kept for two songbirds that need old juniper and oak, with trails at the Doeskin Ranch unit near Bertram.
• Longhorn Cavern State Park — 18 mi
  A cave carved by an underground river in the Hill Country, cleared of mud by hand in the 1930s and reached down 52 stone steps on a guided tour.
• Inks Lake State Park — 18 mi
  A state park on a constant-level lake of the Colorado, between Buchanan and Inks dams, with pink granite and gneiss at the water and CCC work along Park Road 4.
• Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery — 19 mi
  A free federal hatchery below Inks Dam on the Colorado, with thirty production ponds that draw birds and a look at how fish are raised from egg to harvest.

More markers nearby

• Bertram School — 0.6 mi
• The Village of South Gabriel — 2.3 mi
• Mount Zion Cemetery — 3.3 mi
• Oatmeal Cemetery — 3.7 mi