OAK HILL, TEXAS (Travis County). Oak Hill, on U.S. Highway 290 and Williamson Creek, eight miles southwest of Austin in southwestern Travis County, was originally called Live Oak Springs. In 1865 an attempt was made in the community to establish a town called Shiloh, but the effort was unsuccessful. Schools called Live Oak and Oatmanville also gave their names to the community for a time. A post office called Oak Hill was established in 1870 with Swen M. Berryman as postmaster. When the new state Capitol building was constructed in Austin in the 1880s, the Oak Hill community boomed because of its nearby stone quarries. In 1884 the town had a general store, four saloons, and seventy-five residents; pecans, cotton, wool, and hides were the principal commodities shipped by area farmers. By 1904 the population of Oak Hill had reached 200. The Oak Hill post office was discontinued in 1910, and mail for the community was sent to Austin. In the 1970s and 1980s the population of Oak Hill was listed at 425. By 2000 the community had been absorbed into the Austin city limits. Numerous streets and businesses still identified the area as Oak Hill. A local newspaper, the Oak Hill Gazette, was published weekly.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mary Starr Barkley, History of Travis County and Austin, 1839-1899 (Waco: Texian Press, 1963). John J. Germann and Myron Janzen, Texas Post Offices by County (1986).
