Discreet Biohazard Cleanup Near West Ballinger Ballinger, TX

Ballinger is the county seat of Runnels County and sits where the Colorado River and Elm Creek converge, at the junction of U.S. Highways 67 and 83 in south-central Runnels County.

Ballinger was founded in 1886 when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built westward from Brownwood; the future townsite, five miles south of the original county seat of Runnels City, won the railroad terminal because it offered a better water supply.

Extensive newspaper advertising brought about 6,000 people to Ballinger's first sale of town lots on June 29, 1886.

The town was briefly called Gresham and then Hutchings, after Santa Fe stockholders, before being officially named for William Pitt Ballinger, a Galveston attorney and stockholder of the railroad.

Ballinger incorporated in 1892 and soon took over as county seat from Runnels City, with a courthouse square and public park set aside in its original 1.7-square-mile layout.

Ballinger's population jumped from 1,128 in 1900 to 3,536 in 1910 as farming overtook stock raising in Runnels County, and the 2020 census counted 3,619 residents.

Ballinger has roughly 1,450 households according to Census Bureau survey data, and about three-quarters of its homes are owner-occupied.

Downtown Ballinger features historic buildings from the 1800s with shops and restaurants, including the Ballinger Carnegie Library, built in 1911 with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie and later placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ballinger is the main shipping and distribution center for Runnels County, with light manufacturing, mining, and retail trade among its major employers.

Students in Ballinger are served by the Ballinger Independent School District, and Ballinger High School's teams are the Bearcats.