ABOUT ROUND TOP, TEXAS
Population 77

On one square mile of land at the eastern edge of Fayette County, Texas, the town of Round Top came to life in the 1830s as "Townsend Settlement."

According to legend, the town's modern name derives from a local house that served as a stagecoach stop. From its high, round top, settlers would keep watch for the inbound stage on the chance that it needed defense from raiders.

Historically our town has never been large, except when measured by influence.

Virtually every seriously researched publication on the history, arts, architecture, decorative arts, culture and civilization of early Texas mentions the activities of Round Top. The spring from which Round Top's influence flowed was a distinctive local culture with roots many thousands of miles away in Central Europe.

Specifically, during the second half of the 19th Century, German immigrants settled in and around the town. As their numbers grew, the new German-Texans began impressing their culture on the area. As their population swelled to 250, they developed an extraordinarily colorful community, with a town square bordered on three sides by a commercial district that had a doctor's office, a bank, businesses of various types and a variety of popular saloons.

Round Top is much different today, though no less cultured and colorful. On weekdays, time moves slowly and gently here. Direct descendants of the town's early German-American settlers can be seen gathering each morning for coffee and conversation. Visitors might easily underestimate the town's population, which stands at 77.

Weekends in Round Top are another matter. A community of professionals from Houston, San Antonio and Austin arrives each Friday evening. Men, women and children pursue every definition of leisure and retreat, before heading back to the hustle of big-city life on Sunday afternoon. Indeed, Round Top lives up to its sobriquet, "The biggest little city in Texas."

Several times annually Round Top and its neighboring communities swell by many thousands more. Visitors are drawn from across the United States in search of great deals on art, antiques and collectibles because the spring and fall antique shows attract numerous quality dealers. They'll also find actors filling the town with instruments, melodies and soliloquies. Shakespearean dramas are on stage in nearby Winedale and world-class orchestral and chamber music is at Festival Hill.

For more information about Round Top and its year-round calendar of events, check the Our Events page or visit the Round Top Chamber of Commerce site.