Correcting The Record: I have been told by a noted Travis County Historian that the photo of The Montopolis Courthouse, Travis County has been found not be the case. There was no such Courthouse at Montopolis.

My personal story about the area:

I have very fond memories of the Montopolis Area of Austin. I really didn’t know much about the history.
My construction office and yard was at 2801 Montopolis Dr. for about a decade back in the 70s & 80s. It was the old homestead that included a stone house, garage apartment behind and a metal shop building farther back.

It was a great location to operate a construction company from.

I owned 4 1/2 acres that part of it had at one time been an old dairy farm. It was perfectly positioned to look down across the city with the Capitol Building and the University Tower in plain sight. Of course that was before the downtown high rise craze caught on and smothered out any chance to see anything except the shiny glass buildings.

History of the Area:

Established in 1830, Montopolis predates Austin by nine years. For a short time, it competed vigorously with Austin’s predecessor, Waterloo, for predominance on this stretch of the Colorado River.

Looking down the river and across the Montopolis Bridge

I was always bit puzzled by the name. Nowhere could I fine the origins for Montopolis. (Like the Greek, Montopolis)

But with the advent of AI, now I have a better idea about the naming.

The following article was from:
Handbook of Texas Online,
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hvmac

MONTOPOLIS, TEXAS. Montopolis was four miles southeast of downtown Austin in south central Travis County. The site, located north of the Colorado River, was settled in the late 1830s, when Jessie C. Tannehill built a cabin and laid out a townsite to be called Montopolis for its location on top of a hill. The town did not develop as expected, probably because Austin was so close. A small community of fifty, however, was in place in the mid-1890s, and a post office called Montopolis opened in January 1897. The census of 1900 listed the Montopolis population as 142, but in 1902 its post office was discontinued, and mail for area residents was sent to Austin. Most of Montopolis proper was annexed by the city of Austin in 1951. Additional portions of the area were annexed during the 1960s and 1970s.

This is a view from the approximate location of my office. The trees weren’t there back then, leaving a gorgeous view of downtown Austin.

The Old Montopolis Bridge