Fort Croghan Outpost, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Fort Croghan, Texas, was located on Hamilton Creek, three miles South of present-day Burnet. The location was chosen when Henry E. McCulloch and his Texas Rangers were stationed there in March 1849. It was first called Culloch’s Station. Just a few months later, in October, they planned to build a permanent fort across Hamilton Creek, three miles above the first site. It was then named Camp Croghan in honor of Colonel George Croghan. Later, the name was changed to Camp Hamilton and, upon completion, was officially named Fort Croghan. The buildings were all log and included four officers’ quarters and a sizeable four-room hospital. Â
The post became the headquarters of the Second Dragoons in 1852, but troops were moved the following year, leaving behind only a skeleton crew to guard the buildings. It was abandoned in 1855, and the buildings were used as residences.
By 1940, only the foundations remained as evidence of the military occupation. A decade later, however, the Burnet County Historical Society began reconstructing the old post. Similar old buildings in the area, including two log dwellings and a stone structure, were moved from their original locations to the fort site and restored to appear as they might have during the fort’s occupation.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.
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