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Mustang Ridge   Located about fifteen miles south of Austin on U. S. Highway 183, Mustang Ridge takes its name from a small line of hills in the area. This site was originally a way station for the stagecoach on the Gonzales-to-Austin route. The Old Spanish Road (El Camino Real) that ran from San Antonio to East Texas, roughly along Highway 21 also passes through Mustang Ridge. Watering holes in the nearby area were well-used stopping places for trail drivers and their cattle herds as they made their way north to Kansas. The Alligator Watering Hole, basically serving as the head waters of Cedar Creek, was close to the intersection of the Austin-Lockhart Road and El Camino Real. Most of the area residents engaged in ranching until cotton farming became prominent about 1900. Tenant farming was common until the Great Depression, when drought and poverty forced many struggling families to leave. Eventually, though, ranching, although on a smaller scale, resumed and improved farming methods have brought back some cotton. Early schools belonged to the Creedmoor common school district, but were consolidated with the Del Valle Independent School District in 1966. The community of Mustang Ridge, with a population of 435, was incorporated in 1985 through the efforts of Charles and Alton Laws. With the assistance of Messrs. Webb, Sanders, and Robertson, they established a city limit that included some 2,500 acres. By 1990, the small town included portions of northern Caldwell, southern Travis, and southwestern Bastrop counties. Source: Sources – 1. Genealogical and Historical Society of Caldwell County, Communities Vertical Files 2. Smyrl, Vivian Elizabeth, “MUSTANG RIDGE, TX”, Handbook of Texas Online, http://www.tshaonline.org The Plum Creek Almanac is a project of  The Genealogical and Historical Society of Caldwell County. The Genealogical and Historical Society of Caldwell County Copyright © 1963 Updated 10/15/2019