Editing Georgetown, Texas (section)

===Modern history===
Georgetown was named for [[George Washington Glasscock]], who donated the land for the new town.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=Glasscock, George Washington |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/glasscock-george-washington |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref> Early American and Swedish pioneers were attracted to the area's abundance of timber and good, clear water. In addition, the land was inexpensive and fertile. Georgetown is the county seat of Williamson County, which was formed on March 13, 1848, after the early settlers petitioned the state legislature to create it from a portion of [[Milam County, Texas|Milam County]]. The county was originally to have been named San Gabriel County, but was instead named after [[Robert McAlpin Williamson]] (known as "Three-legged Willie"), a Texas statesman and judge at the time.<ref>[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwi42 "Williamson, Robert McAlpin (Three Legged Willie)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509195701/https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwi42 |date=May 9, 2018}}. [[Handbook of Texas Online]]. Retrieved July 26, 2010.</ref>

[[File:CullenOld.png|thumb|The Cullen Building on the campus of Southwestern University shortly after completion (c. 1900)]]

Georgetown was an agrarian community for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The [[Texas Road|Shawnee Trail]], a cattle trail that led from Texas to the rail centers in Kansas and Missouri, crossed through Georgetown. The establishment of [[Southwestern University]] in 1873 and construction of a railroad in 1878 contributed to the town's growth and importance. A stable economy developed, based largely on agricultural activity. Cotton was the dominant crop in the area between the 1880s and the 1920s. In this period, Williamson County was once the top producer of cotton in Texas.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cotton County |first=Andrew |last=McLemore |newspaper=Williamson County Sun |date=August 15, 2010}}</ref>

At one time, Georgetown was served by two national railroads, the [[International-Great Northern Railroad]] (I-GN), which eventually was merged into the Missouri Pacific, and the [[Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad]] (M-K-T). Both supported the transport of commodities to market: beef cattle and cotton. The regional Georgetown and Granger Railroad (GGR) was completed to [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] in 1904. Georgetown is served today by the [[Georgetown Railroad]], a 'short line' railroad that uses portions of the former M-K-T and the I-GN to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad at [[Round Rock, Texas|Round Rock]] and at [[Granger, Texas|Granger]].

Georgetown has also been home to [[minor league baseball]]: the 1914 [[Georgetown Collegians]] began play as charter members of the [[Class D (baseball)|Class D]] level [[Middle Texas League]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=8bc77e8f|title=1914 Georgetown Collegians Statistics}}</ref>

In 1921 a low-pressure system from a hurricane settled in over Williamson County and brought more than 23 inches of rain in [[Taylor, Texas|Taylor]] and more than 18 inches of rain in Georgetown. The flooding resulted in the death of 156 persons, many of them farm laborers. There was also extensive property damage, and Georgetown residents sought to begin flood control.<ref>{{cite book |title=Road, River and Good Ol' Boy Politics: A Texas County's Path from Farm to Supersuburb |last=Scarbrough |first=Linda |year=2009 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |location=Austin, Texas |isbn=9780876112359 |pages=36, 42}}</ref>

The [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] completed construction of a dam more than 50 years later, on the north fork of the San Gabriel River, to create and impound [[Lake Georgetown]], which opened officially on October 5, 1979.<ref name="Scarbrough 2009 233">{{cite book |title=Road, River and Good Ol' Boy Politics: A Texas County's Path from Farm to Supersuburb |last=Scarbrough |first=Linda |year=2009 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |location=Austin, Texas |isbn=9780876112359 |page=233 }}</ref> Both Georgetown and Round Rock own water rights to Lake Georgetown for municipal water use.

Population growth and industrial expansion continued modestly in the 20th century until about 1960, when residential, commercial, and industrial development, due to major growth and urban expansion of nearby Austin, greatly accelerated. In 2008, ''Fortune Small Business'' magazine ranked Georgetown as the second-best city in the nation to "live and launch" a new business.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/bestplaces/2008/top100/|title=100 Best places to live and launch 2008: Top 100 - Fortune Small Business Magazine|website=money.cnn.com|access-date=November 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117192802/https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/bestplaces/2008/top100/|archive-date=November 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2015, Georgetown announced that their municipal-owned utility, Georgetown Utility Systems, would begin buying 100% of power for its customers from wind and solar farms by 2017, effectively making the city 100% green-powered.<ref name="green1">{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_juice/2015/03/georgetown_texas_goes_renewable_why_the_town_is_dropping_fossil_fuels_for.html |title=The Texas Town That Just Quit Fossil Fuels |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |author=Daniel Gross |date=March 23, 2015 |access-date=March 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308150521/http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_juice/2015/03/georgetown_texas_goes_renewable_why_the_town_is_dropping_fossil_fuels_for.html |archive-date=March 8, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Texas historical marker for the Ku Klux Klan trials.jpg|thumb|right|Texas historical marker for the Ku Klux Klan trials. The marker is on the Williamson County Courthouse grounds.]]