Most towns have their good times and bad times, but those times aren’t always as good or as bad as the times experienced by the town of Llano, Texas. From a dusty frontier town to the "Pittsburgh of the West", just to "crash and burn" (almost literally) in a few chaotic years, Llano has lived through more than its share of twists and turns. The charming little town that remains today is known more for barbecue, deer hunting, and high school football than for big business, high society, and easy money, and there are few clues remaining to "what might have been".

The first settlers came to Llano county in the 1840’s, and the county was organized in 1856, when the site of the town was chosen and named as the county seat. By 1858, there were 1,100 people in Llano County, and the town was firmly established. Llano was very much a "frontier town" through the Civil War days and for about ten years after, but by 1875, the Indian attacks had stopped, there was more contact with the outside world, and the town was settling in for the long haul. In 1880, the county’s population had grown to 4,962, and the Southern Hotel (now Buttery Hardware) was built as a stop for the stagecoach that went to Burnet by way of Bluffton and Tow. In 1885 a fancy brick courthouse was built, and in 1886, the town got its first rock school. In 1888 Mr. J.K. Finlay polished his first piece of granite at Finlay’s Mill, about 8 miles up the Llano River.

It must have been the end of 1887 or the beginning of 1888 that the rumors began to fly, and the people began to arrive. Some were rich capitalists hoping to turn thousands into millions. Some were poor drifters hoping to strike it rich. They all had heard the rumors that there was "gold in them thar hills". Or if not gold, at least a whole lot of iron ore. Very little gold was ever found, but enough iron ore was discovered to lure some big money to Llano. Wakefield Iron and Coal from Minneapolis, Minnesota, bought large tracts of land where ...

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