Making Dripping Springs Home, A History Part 2

Editor’s Note: This guest column, is one of 12 short column submissions that will be made by the Dr. Pound Farmstead over the next three months. Their intent is to provide a better understanding of the history of Dripping Springs. For a learning worksheet accompanying this column, visit https://drpoundfarmstead.org .

In 1854 Dripping Springs consisted of three families, while Austin had a population of around 4,000 people. There was no railroad, just stagecoach routes from Austin to Houston, San Antonio, or Fredericksburg. Work was to begin on the new Capitol building in Austin, solidifying its place as the government seat of the State. How many times per year would Dripping Springs families make the trek into Austin? A trip that would take a full day with no load, and two days returning with a full load? They would need to make the pilgrimage to stock up on fabric, flour, sugar and gun powder; things they couldn’t grow on the farm or get locally. There was no clear trail traveling from Dripping Springs to San Marcos, which then had a population of about 400 people.  In an archived letter from the Pound House collections, one of the Pound children wrote that their father set out for San Marcos and returned home the same evening, never having found the town!

Three years passed since their arrival and John Moss was made Postmaster, ready to begin work. Before the area could bring in a Post Office, however, it needed an official name. John’s wife, Indiana, is responsible for the moniker of “Dripping Springs”, named after the cool waters by the stagecoach stop. Sarah had two small children to attend to by now, and even though the first years on their farmstead brought little rain, and her sister’s family moved on, the Pounds stayed. It was a quiet time in these parts.