Biohazard Cleanup Near Bertram Historic District Bertram, TX

Bertram was established in 1882 when the community of San Gabriel moved two miles northwest to meet the newly built Austin and Northwestern Railroad.

The town was named for Austin merchant Rudolph Bertram, the largest stockholder in the railroad, and a post office opened in Bertram in 1882.

Bertram was once a major cotton shipping point — in 1928, a record 11,624 bales of cotton were ginned in the town.

The Great Depression hit Bertram hard: its population fell from 1,000 in 1929 to just 550 by 1931 as cotton prices collapsed.

The 2020 census counted 1,616 residents in Bertram, living in 570 households, with about 73% of occupied homes owner-occupied.

Bertram hosts the annual Oatmeal Festival over Labor Day weekend, a spoof of the many Texas chili cook-offs that began in 1978 and takes its name from the nearby community of Oatmeal.

The Oatmeal Festival, originally sponsored by National Oats, the maker of 3 Minute Oats, has funded scholarships for local high-school graduates and built an open-air pavilion in Bertram and a community center at Oatmeal.

Bertram Elementary School was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2007.

The local baseball field in Bertram is named for Major League Baseball player John Owen 'Chief' Wilson, who lived in the town.

Bertram sits in eastern Burnet County at the junction of State Highway 29 and Farm Roads 243 and 1174, about 10 miles east of Burnet, the county seat.