Austin / Central Texas / Hill Country
Lampasas County, Texas
A local guide to the county: the stories that give it a shape, practical checks, and a few things worth knowing before they surprise you. Every note points to its source.
8 stories · 6 practical · 1 good to know
The practical part
Lampasas County offices and deadlines
Appraisal district & tax office →
The Comptroller's official directory for Lampasas County: who sets your value and who sends the bill.
Homestead exemption →
File Form 50-114 with the appraisal district. It is free. The regular deadline is April 30, and late filing is allowed for up to two years.
Protest your appraisal →
The usual deadline is May 15, or 30 days after your notice arrives, whichever is later.
Estimate a tax bill →
Model a bill from local rates, the homestead exemption, and the appraisal cap.
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A little of what makes this place itself
Lampasas County · State park
Colorado Bend Turns Lampasas County toward River-and-Cave Country
Colorado Bend joins former ranch land, six miles of river frontage, 35 miles of trails, and hundreds of caves across Lampasas and San Saba counties.
Lampasas County · Courthouse
The Lampasas Courthouse Carried an 1880s Boom into Stone
The railroad arrived, Lampasas boomed, and W. C. Dodson's mansard-roof courthouse rose on a square reserved when the town was young.
Lampasas County · Mineral springs
A Mule-Drawn Streetcar Once Carried Visitors to Hancock Springs
Lampasas once carried rail passengers through downtown by mule-drawn streetcar to a mineral-water resort with baths, pools, and a 200-room hotel.
All 15 local notes
The full county shelf is mixed so stories and useful checks travel together. Use the filters when you need one kind.
Showing all 15 notes.
- Stories & local character Outdoors Colorado Bend Turns Lampasas County toward River-and-Cave Country Colorado Bend joins former ranch land, six miles of river frontage, 35 miles of trails, and hundreds of caves across Lampasas and San Saba counties.
- Practical Outdoors Colorado Bend's Primitive Sites Need Three Different Packing Lists Drive-up, walk-in, and backcountry sites all count as primitive camping, but they demand very different amounts of carrying and water planning.
- Stories & local character History & Culture The Lampasas Courthouse Carried an 1880s Boom into Stone The railroad arrived, Lampasas boomed, and W. C. Dodson's mansard-roof courthouse rose on a square reserved when the town was young.
- Practical Rules & Licenses Gorman Falls and a Cave Tour Need Separate Planning The rough Gorman Falls trail asks more than its mileage suggests, while every cave tour requires its own advance booking.
- Good to know Home & Property Sulphur Creek's Dams Do Not Settle One Property's Flood Question Nine flood-control dams changed Lampasas's flood history, but a current FEMA map and the right local office still matter for one address.
- Stories & local character History & Culture A Mule-Drawn Streetcar Once Carried Visitors to Hancock Springs Lampasas once carried rail passengers through downtown by mule-drawn streetcar to a mineral-water resort with baths, pools, and a 200-room hotel.
- Practical Outdoors Hunting Rules for Deer and Turkey in Lampasas County Lampasas County has specific deer bag limits and buck restrictions that hunters must know before the season opens.
- Stories & local character History & Culture How Lampasas County Came to Be Lampasas County was formed in 1856 from parts of three older counties. Its name comes from the river and mineral springs that drew early settlers.
- Practical Home & Property Groundwater Rules Apply to Water Wells Here Lampasas County is in Groundwater Management Area 8. The Saratoga Underground Water Conservation District oversees well permits and groundwater rules for the entire county.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Kempner's Town Center Followed the Tracks Two Miles East A settlement and post office moved through several names before the 1882 railroad pulled the community toward a trackside site named Kempner.
- Practical Money & Taxes Who Handles Your Property Tax in Lampasas County In Lampasas County the appraisal district sets your property value, and you pay your taxes there too — the county tax office does not collect property taxes.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Lampasas Helped Start a National Farm Movement In 1875, Lampasas County farmers formed the first Farmers' Alliance. It grew into a national movement for rural economic reform.
- Practical Cars & Driving Lampasas County Tags Do Not Need an Emissions Test A noncommercial vehicle registered in Lampasas needs neither a safety nor emissions test, while the county tax office handles the local title-and-tag counter.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Lampasas Spent a Few Years at the End of the Railroad The railroad made Lampasas a short-lived western terminus where wool, cotton, tents, mineral-water tourists, and bankers crowded together.
- Stories & local character History & Culture Lometa's Story Runs from Salt Kettles to Railroad Trade A wartime salt works labored west of town before a railroad station drew Senterfitt residents into Montvale, soon renamed Lometa.
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