Burnet County

David G. Burnet's life was, by the Handbook of Texas account, a string of disappointments. Born in Newark in 1788, he sailed in 1806 with Francisco Miranda's failed expedition to Venezuela and later traded with the Comanches near the headwaters of the Brazos. His 1826 empresario grant near Nacogdoches never drew settlers, and he sold his rights in 1830. Elected ad interim president of Texas in March 1836 by seven votes, he left office in October embittered. He lost the presidency to Sam Houston in 1841 and died poor in Galveston in 1870.

What the plaque says

Burnet County Formed from portions of Travis, Williamson and Bell counties. Created Feb. 5, 1852; organized August 28, 1852. Named in honor of David G. Burnet (1788-1870), president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Texas in 1836. County seat, Burnet, famous for its granite mountains.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Inks Lake State Park — 8.6 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.
• Longhorn Cavern State Park — 8.9 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 Dam National Fish Hatchery — 9.6 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.
• Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge: Doeskin Ranch — 13 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.

More markers nearby

• General Adam R. Johnson — steps away
• The Badger Building — steps away
• The Burnet Bulletin — steps away
• Red Brick School — 0.3 mi