Bear Creek

Bear Creek is a country residential community located off U. S. Highway 290 about fifteen miles southwest of Austin and twenty-two miles north of San Marcos in northern Hays County near the Travis county line. Settlement began in this area, named for a nearby stream, in the early 1850s. Luis Capt settled on Bear Creek in 1851 and built a dam and gristmill there. Others soon arrived in the region, known for a time as Capt's Mill. Thomas Jefferson Johnson came to the area in 1852 and established his school, Johnson Institute