Field Guides
Lockhart, Texas
(Caldwell COUNTY)
Famous barbecue, blues, and small-town Texas soul.
Highlights
Lockhart, the county seat of Caldwell County, is the fatherland, the homeplace, the origin story of Texas barbecue. San Antonio gave Texans our fighting spirit, Houston put men on the moon, Dallas introduced us to the world, the geology of our rural outposts powers the nation, and Austin mixes our past, present, and future. But none of them are as good and pure; none unify Texans as much as our claim to the best barbecue in the world. Great barbecue started here and continues here. Texas Ten’s biggest tip for a trip to Caldwell County is to arrive hungry.
However, Lockhart and Caldwell County have become more than correctly burned meat. The Lockhart town square is active, with great stores, non-BBQ restaurants, and a growing music/nightlife scene. On top of that, the nearby state park is a winner with a delightful nine-hole golf course. Luling is another charming small town, a short ride away, with more great barbecue and one of Texas’s better parties, the Watermelon Thump. Luling made another splash recently by opening the world’s largest Buc-ee’s. It is a wonderland that could only be Texan. Palmetto State Park is in Gonzales County but closest to Luling and is one of the system’s more unique offerings.
The County Courthouse
Today’s imposing courthouse was built in 1894 to replace the growing county’s first and much smaller courthouse. Though the design has been regularly attributed to Alfred Giles, recent research indicates that Henry E.M. Guidon (Giles’s eventual partner) designed it. It is constructed of beautiful cream-colored limestone and red sandstone in the Second Empire style.
Let’s not pretend Texas Ten really understood “Second Empire” style when it first encountered the term. Luckily, the internet. Second Empire refers to the second French Empire. From what we can tell, the form is a mish-mash of everything over the top. Or as the apparently important Frenchman Emile Zola put it, “the opulent bastard child of all styles.” Whatever the general architectural criticism, the result of this effort is stunning. A picture is worth a thousand words, so we will leave it at that.
Things To See And Do
The county courthouse itself is quite the attraction, having even been featured in several films and series, including What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Waiting for Guffman (1996), Where the Heart Is (2000), and The Leftovers (2014-2017). From this historic square, Lockhart’s offerings are close by.
For local entertainment, the Gaslight-Baker Theatre offers live theatre and the occasional movie feature. Old Pal Bar anchors one corner of downtown, with cold, cold beer, great fried chicken, and sporadic but high-quality live music. Downtown gives you an opportunity for hours of aimless wandering and retail therapy. See our shopping section for details.
Caldwell County offers a surprising number of museums. For local history and culture, the Caldwell County Museum and Dr. Eugene Clark Library showcase ample resources and unique architecture. The Southwest Museum of Clocks and Watches tells the fascinating story of timekeeping before iPhones and iWatches. Who knew? In Luling, the Oil Museum tells the story of Texas’s lifeblood from a Central Texas perspective. Find out how Luling earned the nickname “Toughest Town in Texas.”
You are going to indulge at the table in Cladwell County. Fortunately, you can burn calories, too. For outdoor activities, Lockhart City Park is located on the other side of Highway 183 and includes a picturesque pond and walking track, a pool and a splash pad, a skate park, a baseball field, and even a disc golf course.
Ten minutes southwest of the courthouse is Lockhart State Park, which features the amenities expected, such as overnight camping, trails, wildlife spotting, and fishing spots along Clear Fork Creek for sunfish, catfish, and bass. In addition, there is the historic group recreation hall, a pool, geocaches, and a golf course whose construction dates back 80 years.
Luling offers one of the state’s prettiest paddling trails, this one on the San Marcos River. Six miles of serenity between a put-in at Highway 90 and the river, with completion at Zedler Mill Park in Luling are several hours of bliss. Palmetto State Park is a biodiverse habitat featuring the beautiful Dwarf Palmettos for which the park is named.
Food, Drinks, And Music (Eat Local!)
Of course, Lockhart offers plenty of options as the birthplace of Texas barbecue. The original Holy Trinity is Black’s Barbecue, Kreuz Market, and Smitty’s Market. City Market in Luling was an early notable for high-end barbecue. All are still going strong. Locals have long loved Lockhart Chisholm Trail BBQ and Riley’s Pit BBQ in Lockhart and Luling Bar-B-Q in… I’m not going to say it.
More recent entries of note are Terry Black’s BBQ and Barbs BBQ. Barbs has gained wildly positive reviews; Texas Ten cannot wait to try it. As to the others, there is ego, drama, and stories for days. We leave it for others to rate, rank, or report the contenders, and suggest that you just stay long enough to try them all.
And we can’t do this without a choice of Mexican restaurants. In Lockhart, the three best-reviewed Mexican restaurants for the essential Texas food group are Guadalajara Mexican, La Rancheria, and La Cantera. Hermano’s has long been the class of the field in Luling, but do not sleep on Meme’s Mexican Restaurant, Azucena’s Mexican Grill, or La Casita for the authentic stuff.
Lockhart has even more variety to offer. For cafes, enjoy both Market Street Cafe and Commerce Cafe. Sit down for some American-style food at Henry’s. Try a poké bowl at Poké in the Rear, or dive into seafood and steak at… Lockhart Seafood and Steak. Charlotte’s is an outstanding brunch/lunch spot. O’Donnell’s Pub and Cafe bills itself as the best sandwich in Lockhart. El Rey Crawfish & Oyster Bar adds Louisiana-inspired seafood to your options. Finally, Little Trouble is the hipster paradise. An underground speakeasy is elevated-cool. The menu is limited, but everything on it is delicious. Vibes are off the charts.
Along with the Old Pal, Lil’ Charlie’s is Lockhart’s local chicken joint, offering its tasty homemade ranch. For pizza lovers, there is Loop & Lil’s Pizza, which has hand-tossed, thin-crust pizzas. In Luling, we are going backward from our previous suggestions. Save room for dessert or eat it first at the Swoonworthy Sourdough Bakery. From there, Blake’s is well known for burgers and casual steaks, while Rusty Rooster (a four-store chain) is the spot for chicken.
In the countryside, if you find yourself in or anywhere near Prairie Lea (highway 80 near the San Marcos River), Brandini’s gourmet sandwiches are the bomb. Frank’s Place in nearby Fentress offers a little of everything with great views to boot.
Nightlife is excellent and getting better. In Lockhart, we have mentioned Old Pal several times, but we do it again because we love the name almost as much as the beer: Ditto Little Trouble and O’Donnell’s. Lilly’s Bar & Grill is a casual option. And if you want to kick back and enjoy live music outdoors with a good burger, Load Off Fanny’s is the spot.
The Station is the best spot in Luling for live music, with food trucks providing the sustenance. Andy’s Lounge, El Zarapes, and Indomable’z are other options.
Where To Drop A Dime (Shop Local!)
From books, art, and gifts to vintage items, boutique clothing, and custom apparel, there are quite a few places to spend a dime in Lockhart. Lots of greatness to be found in Lockhart:
Rollfast Ranchwear is a fashion-forward Western shop that offers plenty of options for those who want more excitement in their duds. An absolute must to get your Texan on. Rollfast Ranchwear. This shop provides plenty of options if you need more excitement in your Western wear. Complete the look at Manny Gammage’s Texas Hatters Inc. or 4H Hat Company. Gammage’s is a family-owned hat-making company run by its third and fourth-generation hat makers. Known for its high-roller and half-breed cowboy hats, it also has a selection of bowler hats and fedoras. And if your cowboy hat needs a little love, the Texas Hatters have plenty to give. 4H opened in 2021 and is run by the young Jesse Hernandez and his family, hence the name. Located in a small brick-and-mortar on Pecan Street, it has a collection of hand-crafted hats that one would not want to miss checking out.
For boots, you can make an appointment with boot magician Joey Medina of Full Circle Vintage, who refurbishes barn finds into spectacular statement pieces. Finally, Old School Leathersmith is a custom leather store with high-quality products ranging from wallets, belts, and boots to gun holsters, knife sheaths, key chains, guitar straps, leather picture frames, you name it.
Commerce Gallery showcases contemporary visual art from artists all over Texas. Their current artist-in-residence is Christopher St. Leger, a masterful oil and watercolor artist of figures and landscapes. The gallery is gorgeous, and the curator’s taste is impeccable. We found one of our favorite Texas artists, B. Shawn Cox, here for the first time. The Spellerberg Projects Gallery is equally impressive. It is an artist-run center that showcases paintings, photography, and installations monthly. Stampworthy Goods offers gorgeous, one-of-a-kind decor items and furniture.
Unique literary adventures are a thing in Lockhart. Best Little Wine & Books. A small wine bar with a colorful personality. Enjoy a beverage-related book with your choice of wine, beer, or sake. And meet Chicken Hawkins, the store’s four-legged greeter. Haunt Happy. Located in a basement that may be haunted, this bookstore is spooky all year round and offers loads for those who love horror literature.
If sound is your thing, Plum Creek Records & Tapes record promotes local music artists; its stock of records and tapes reflects this commitment. If you can or hope actually to make music, good for you. And head to both Cowbell Music and Mercantile (all things music, draped in live and let live philosophy) and Fiddler’s Green Music Shop (anything with strings and all the knowledge).
Of course, vintage abounds. Fields Stable Antiques, located right across from Black’s Barbecue, offers something sweet besides its collectibles and hidden treasures. Cheesecake. That’s right. Its owner, Karen Cernoch, gives visitors a choice of 13 kinds of delicious cheesecakes every first Friday of the month. What a treat. Royal’s Antiques & Firearms is another stop for antiquities hunters. As the name implies, a small collection of firearms and ammo is also available.
One last specialty not to miss if it is your interest: El Leon Cigar Company gets rave reviews from those who like the humidor.
With the confession that we like gift stores, but have a hard time telling them apart, we give you:
In Luling, there is specialty to be had. But we also recommend the Farmer’s Market, a daily event. In Good Spirits is the place for those who can knowledgeably answer the eternal question, Red or White? If you want to feel great without the possibility of a hangover, try the Luling Lavender Fields. There are options for a unique gift or memento at Luling Icehouse Pottery, Luling Emporium, Christina’s Boutique & Gifts, KK’s Antiques & Collectibles, and Holly Dee Quilts.
Other places worth the drive from Lockhart or Luing are All About You Boutique (great gift store/boutique worth the trip to nearby McMahan) and Lytton Springs General Store (In Dale, this is an old, old store (1859 old) that was recently used as a Walking Dead set)
Special Places To Lay Your Head (Stay Local!)
We are certain that Caldwell County is in line for a fancy resort. But no announcements have been made yet, so your best options for non-Econolodge lodgings are a wonderfully restored historic farmhouse/venue at the Ellison House, blow-you-away glamping at Wahwahtaysee, or a traditional river lodge at Son’s Blue River Camp. If you want to be close to downtown Lockhart and Ellison House is booked or out of your budget, try short-term rentals.
For The Professional Traveller (Campgrounds and RV Parks)
Closer to Lockhart
Lockhart Meadows (Tiny Homes available to rent also)
State Park RV Village (not affiliated with the State of Texas or the State Parks)
Closer to Luling
Palmetto State Park (actually in Gonzales County but very near Luling)
Special Events
The big one is the Watermelon Thump in Luling, held every year on the last full weekend in June since 1954. What is better for a summer celebration than watermelon? Nothing. There is a parade, a car show, markets, dances, the whole works. Texas has many great small-town celebrations, but this might be the one if you can only pick one.
Lockhart hosts the Chisholm Trail Roundup on the second full weekend of June. Three stages provide live music from up-and-coming artists, the Chisholm Trail Roundup Grand Parade, and a BBQ and Chili Cookoff in the beautiful City Park—all the things you expect for a good time.
Lockhart has many more festivities spread throughout the year. In Spring, enjoy some drinks as you stroll through the historic square during Lockhart Sip & Stroll, listen and groove to acoustic jazz, blues, and bluegrass at the Old Settler’s Music Festival, take part in Lockhart’s Running of the Bulls, or celebrate Cinco de Mayo in town. The first Friday of each year is a great time to be in Lockhart as downtown comes to life for the evening. German Heritage gets its due at Locktoberfest.
Not every year, but most years, Texas Monthly honors the home of Texas Barbecue with its barbecue fest. This year is one of those years, the first weekend in November.
Fore! (Golf Courses)
Lockhart State Park is home to a state-maintained and operated 9-hole golf course. It is a very affordable option that is well-maintained and surrounded by natural beauty.
2912 State Park Rd.
Lockhart, TX 78644
(512) 389-4800
Luling also has a pretty nine-hole course that makes great use of the San Marcos River.
1005 S. Magnolia Ave.
Luling, TX 78648
(830) 875-5114
For longer tracks, the nearby Travis, Hays, and Bastrop Counties have more than enough.
Getting To Caldwell County
Caldwell County is just east of San Marcos and south of Austin. Heading southeast from the state’s geographical center in Brady, Texas, you can reach the county seat in roughly two hours and forty-five minutes. More specifically, a drive on State Highway 80 and then a turn onto State Highway 142 eastbound leads straight into Lockhart. Getting on State Highway 183 in Austin and heading southeast will also land you in Lockhart. The state’s closest approximation of an autobahn, HWY 130 west of Austin, runs you close to both towns at a quick pace. The nearest interstate is I-10, running east/west from Houston to San Antonio or vice versa. Luling’s city center is just a few miles north of I-10. I-35 is the major north/south artery, but you will likely be on 183 or 130.
If you fly on a major carrier Austin–Austin-Bergstrom International Airport will be your destination, and a 30-minute drive south to Lockhart will follow. Smaller craft will first want to try Lockhart Municipal Airport. Another option is Austin Executive Airport, which is roughly 40 minutes to the north. The San Marcos Regional Airport is 20 minutes to the west.
History
Ten thousand years ago, small game in the area provided for the Tonkawa Indians, who were hunter-gatherers. Eventually, bands of nomadic Karankawas moved inland from the coast and lived amongst them in relative harmony. By the 19th century, Comanches, exceptional horseback riders and big game hunters from the plains, also migrated south into this region. As Anglos began moving in, tensions between the groups flared.
In 1825, the Mexican government settled Caldwell County as part of the Dewitt settlement. Anglo settlements developed along the various creeks branching off the San Marcos River within the County’s boundaries. Like everywhere else, the Runaway Scrape of the Texas Revolution threatened the area’s stability. Once victory was achieved, Caldwell officially became a county of the Republic of Texas. Comanche Indian raids often threatened residents. Still, they had only minor disruptions after the Battle of Plum Creek in 1840, a bloody encounter between the volunteer Texas Rangers led by Mathew Caldwell and Ben McCulloch and the feared nation of native warriors. The result forced the Comanches westward.
Initially, the area was part of Gonzales County, but it had grown so much by 1847 that residents petitioned to establish a new County. In 1848, it was approved by the Texas legislature and was named after Matthew Caldwell, an original signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and county defender. The county seat of Lockhart was named after Byrd Lockhart, a surveyor for the Mexican government who had received and settled a parcel of land as partial payment for work done in the area.
Cattle ranches and small farms sprang up around the County, but from 1857 to 1859, a severe drought threatened the livelihoods of the farmers and ranchers. The Civil War did no favors for the area either. In 1861, Caldwell County seceded along with many other Texas counties. With many men enlisting in the Confederate Army, farmland lay barren due to the lack of workers to tend the acreage. Of the crops grown, foraging troops who needed food and supplies often prevented profitable sale or use by the growers.
Like many other southern areas following the Civil War, Caldwell County experienced racial tensions and violence. After the war, federal troops stationed in Lockhart ignited many clashes among the residents. As was familiar with other Southern Counties, economic recovery during Reconstruction was slow. Many formerly enslaved individuals chose to stay, establishing the small communities that grew up around the separate schools and churches built for them.
Due to the enforced loyalty oath at the polls, Confederate sympathizers showed up not to vote, but to harass blacks. Eventually, after Reconstruction ended, the Democrats regained political strength in the county and remained in power until Richard Nixon’s landslide in 1972 revealed the changing demographic bases for the parties in the South and West. Since that time, the County has remained staunchly Republican at the polls.
Transportation improved after the war, with railroads expanding and new towns growing along their routes. Larger farms and ranches that couldn’t withstand the stresses of war were divided up or sold for taxes, allowing more land for new families to come in and start over. Wheat, corn, and cotton were stable staples, but cattle ranching was the chief economic commodity. Large herds were passed through towns on the way to market until barbed wire and property fencing were introduced. This caused serious conflicts between ranchers and farmers and reduced the ranching industry through 1930. More immigrants moved into the areas, which provided more tenant farmers for the land.
Everything changed for Caldwell County in 1922 when Edgar B. Davis discovered the Luling Oilfield. Davis made an immense amount of money from the discovery. He was quite a philanthropist, donating huge sums to charitable causes in the area, extending large bonuses to his employees, and hosting large celebrations featuring barbecue as a sign of things to come. He might have overdone it, finding himself near bankrupt a decade later.
Although the county experienced hardships throughout the Great Depression, the oil industry saved it. The direction of agriculture shifted again, and by the 1980s, over 80% of the land was again used for large farms and ranches. Crops changed to fruits, and livestock moved from cattle to poultry and hogs, but the primary economic providers of the County were still petroleum and agribusinesses.
Today, Caldwell County’s population is 45,833, with a median income of $66,778. 16.7% of the population has a bachelor’s degree. The racial makeup of Caldwell County is 55% Hispanic or Latino, 44% White, and nearly half of the households speak Spanish as their primary language.
Several voice actors have come from Caldwell: Michael Dorn of the Star Trek Franchise, Jimmy Weldon, who worked for the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and Gay Hartwig of the Flintstones cartoon fame. Additionally, blues musician Scott H. Biram; Treasurer of the United States and the first African American woman to hold the office, Azie Taylor Morton; and statesman Robert Strauss called the county home at some point. But Texas is a gridiron state. So the person most folks, and all Texas A&M Aggies, point to as the county’s most famous alum is Emory Bellard, inventor of the Wishbone formation and coach in College Station from 1972-1978..
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