Merrilltown

Travis County, TX

Status: Located

Year Established: Unknown

Council of Governments: CAPCOG

Public History: A community where African Americans lived after the Civil War. It was located north of Austin near the Travis County Line. It was established in the 1880’s at the intersection of the International-Great Northern Railroad (1876) and the A&NW Railroad (1882). The community had an African American school in 1934-35 and may have served African American students in the McNeil area. A review of historic aerial photographs from 1952 and 1954 reveals that the surrounding area was largely undeveloped, with only a few scattered structures along McNeil Road. One of the structures may have been the African American school building. Today the area is completely built out with modern commercial development along US 183. McNeil Road exists as a small loop off of Burnet Road north of US 183.

Travis County Historical Commission’s African American Settlements Survey (2016)
Handbook of Texas Online. Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl. “McNeil, TX (Travis County).” Accessed August 02, 2016. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hnm27.

Community History: There are no current community descriptions of Merrilltown. Please consider sharing your own knowledge of the community with us.