Spicewood, Texas

How Spicewood is governed

Spicewood appears to be an unincorporated community or a census-designated place, so it may have no city government of its own — services usually come from Blanco County, Burnet County, Travis County and its elected officials. The chart below is a generic template; readers can correct it if Spicewood does have local officials.

Form of government not yet listed.

0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

  Executive

  Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

    Executive

    Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

      Administration & departments

      Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

      Administration & departments

      Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

      Administration & departments

      Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

      Administration & departments

      Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

      Administration & departments

      Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

      Administration & departments

      Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

  Legislative

  Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

    Administration & departments

    Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

    Administration & departments

    Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

    Legislative

    Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

  Judicial

  Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

    Judicial

    Not yet listed. Log in to add who holds this

    Presides over the municipal court.

Looking for your county, state and federal representatives too? See who represents 78669 or everyone in Texas.

History

Spicewood was established in the late 19th century, although many residents claim direct lineage from settlers in the early 19th century, many land deeds originating from "script" issued by the Republic of Texas and derived from Spanish land grants. The name possibly came from the "spicewood" timber that grew along nearby Little Cypress Creek. A post office opened in 1899, with James B. Pangle as its postmaster. The Spicewood post office itself moved (2000) from its original location in Spicewood, one mile south to Hollingsworth Corner, and now serves a 100 mi2 area in three counties, Burnet, Blanco, and Travis, leading many served to incorrectly believe they actually "live in" old Spicewood-proper. As surrounding communities began to decline (early 20th century), many of their residents turned to Spicewood as the focus of local community life. A Baptist church was organized in 1908. In 1919, Spicewood school replaced nearby Rockvale school (no longer extant; only the graveyard remains) as the official local school. The population was approximately 100 during the mid-1920s and rose to 125 by 1933. Local businesses prospered when Farm to Market Road 93 (present-day State Highway 71) was built through the area during the 1940s. In 1949, the school in nearby Haynie Flat consolidated with Spicewood's school district. Three years later, Spicewood became part of the Marble Falls Independent School District. The population, which stood at around 100 in the 1970s and went up to 110 until 1990, had grown to an estimated 2,000 by 2000. It went up to 4,000 in 2010.

Spicewood has a post office, with the ZIP code 78669.

The local magneto-driven Spicewood Telephone exchange was taken over by GTE in the early 1970s and the area is now served by Verizon and cellular phone services.

The majority of local businesses are one mile south, at nearby "Hollingsworth Corner" (often misunderstood to be Spicewood proper) and include a general store serving gasoline, hardware, snack foods/beverages, Marine/Boat Service, a Used Car Lot, Real Estate, insurance, and Opie's BBQ. A favorite outdoor destination is nearby Krause Springs, formerly known as Tiger ("tigger") Springs, a spring-fed pond, swimming pool, and picnic/camping concession. The Spicewood area has four privately owned airports; one of them, the old "Austin Air Ranch" or "Windermere", FAA-identifier "88R", welcoming to public use, with fuel, hangar, and light-maintenance available, daytime-VFR use only. The other three airports, Flying X River Ranch (8TA3), Lakeside Beach (0XS6), and Fall Creek Air Ranch (52TS) (the last one not depicted on charts), are "Prior-Permission Required/At-Risk" only.

During September 2011, wildfires hit and significantly damaged the Spicewood area. Sixty-seven structures were lost or damaged across five subdivisions. The majority of the homes in those subdivisions were destroyed, with 22 homes destroyed in one subdivision alone. Seventeen state agencies and 150 firefighters worked to control the blaze. It affected a minimum of 10 square miles, or 6,400 acres.

In 2005, Cypress Valley Canopy Tours was established in the community.

Several studio albums by many different singers and bands have been recorded at Pedernales Country Club and Bee Creek Studios in Spicewood, including:

10, Half a Hundred Years, and Pasture Prime by western swing band Asleep at the Wheel;

Angel Eyes and Partners by Willie Nelson;

Spend a Night in the Box (The Reverend Horton Heat);

Summerteeth (Wilco);

Zooma (John Paul Jones);

A River Ain't Too Much to Love (Smog);

Seashores of Old Mexico (Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson);

Music from Songwriter (Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson);

The Unbroken Circle: The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family (The Carter Family);

Wave on Wave (Pat Green);

King of the Road: The Genius of Roger Miller (Roger Miller);

This Will Destroy You by This Will Destroy You;

Duets: Friends & Memories (Juice Newton);

The song Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other by Ned Sublette was also recorded at Pedernales and Bee Creek.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Other cities in Texas

• Houston 2,304,580
• San Antonio 1,434,625
• Dallas 1,304,379
• Austin 961,855
• Fort Worth 918,915
• El Paso 678,815
• Arlington 394,266
• Corpus Christi 317,863

All Texas cities →