Old Bluffton - a town last seen when Lake Buchanan filled up
The people who lived and died here from the 1850s until around 1930 are most gone, but there are archeological clues to what was once a thriving, and vital, community. With the lake far down in the current dought most of what is left is now exposed on the lake bottom. There was a ferry at one time for crossing the Colorado River at Bluffton on the way from Burnet to Llano. Later a bridge was built, but what ever may be left of it is still well below the surface of Lake Buchanan. A couple of miles east there was once a salt seep which was VERY important to settlers. Soldiers at the fort in Burnet were shown this by Comanches (they were not ALWAYS taking scalps.) Old Bluffton was supposedly sited to be near both the salt works and a stretch of the river which would accommodate a ferry boat. It is illegal to drive a motor vehicle in the lake bottom, but mountain bikes (or a sorta home make "mountain trike") are allowed.
14.5 miles of deep sand, rocks and stickers was "tough fun" on a mountain bike!
Taking ANYTHING from this site is a serious violation of the law, so people gather the bits and pieces of glass and metal they find and place them on chunks of old foundations for others to see. This must drive the archeologists mad, since they need to know EXACTLY where everything was since that also helps them understand more about the lives of those who called Old Bluffton "home"..
