Bartlett, TX

Bartlett sits directly on the Bell-Williamson county line, with 1,633 residents in the 2020 census and a foot in two metro areas: Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood on the Bell County side and Austin-Round Rock on the Williamson County side. The town took shape when the railroad arrived in 1882, and cotton shipping helped build the commercial center that remains visible today. Highway 95 runs through town, with the former rail corridor beside the downtown blocks. That county split is not trivia here; it is part of how addresses, schools, and regional connections work. Downtown Bartlett is a National Register historic district with early twentieth-century commercial buildings, and the same streets have doubled for period film work, including The Stars Fell on Henrietta and The Newton Boys.

Bartlett ISD keeps school life centered in town, with the Bulldogs and Lassies giving the local calendar a recognizable rhythm. The old Bartlett-Florence Railway once ran south from the Katy connection toward Florence, tying the cotton center to its surrounding farm country. These days the town's strongest visual cue is still the combination of highway, storefronts, school, and county line.