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is a city in Burnet County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,959 at the 2000 census.
Marble Falls is 45 minutes west of Austin and north of San Antonio. Lake Marble Falls is part of the Highland Lakes, the largest chain of lakes in Texas.
In 1854, Indian fighter and confederate general, Adam R. "Stovepipe" Johnson, a former Confederate States Army general, viewed the natural marble falls and panoramic countryside, and envisioned the hill country to be his future home. He left for his native Kentucky to fight in the American Civil War, tragically losing his eyesight in an 1864 battle. Yet, never forgetting his dream, Johnson returned to Burnet County and formed the Texas Mining and Improvement Company with a group of nine investors. Marble Falls was officially founded on July 12, 1887, when lots were put on sale by TM&I.
The town sits on the banks of Lake Marble Falls. The falls were formed by a shelf of limestone running diagonally across the river from northeast to southwest. The upper layer of limestone, brownish on the exterior but a deep blue inside, was so hard and cherty it was mistaken for marble. The falls were actually three distinct formations at the head of a canyon long, with a drop of some through the limestone strata. The natural lake was covered when the Colorado River was dammed with the completion of Max Starcke Dam in 1951. Lake Marble Falls sits between Lake LBJ to the north and Lake Travis to the south. The falls for which the city is named are now underwater but are revealed every few years when the lake is lowered.
Equally noteworthy is the huge igneous batholith called Granite Mountain looming on the towns' western edge that secured Marble Falls' place in Texas history. The famed pink granite was used for the construction of the Texas State Capitol, and can also be found in the Galveston Seawall and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Due to its location in the middle of the Texas Hill Country and the Highland Lakes, Marble Falls is a popular vacation destination for watersports enthusiasts, boaters, fishermen, campers, and hunters. For dining, the legendary Bluebonnet Cafe can be found one block north of the Lake Marble Falls' bridge. Marble Falls also hosts one of the largest drag boat races in the United States each August.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.7 square miles (17.4 km²), of which, 6.1 square miles (15.9 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.4 km²) of it (8.21%) is water.