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is a city located in Travis and Williamson Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. A part of the metropolitan area, its population was 61,136 at the 2000 census. The 2005 census estimate placed the population at 86,316.
In August 2008, Money Magazine named Round Rock as the 7th best American small city to live in. Money based this ranking on an estimated annual income of $85,809 per household, and job growth of 45.15% from 2000-2007 (well above the 18.6% National average). Round Rock was the only Texas city to make the Top 10.
According to the 2008 ratings from the Texas Education Agency, the Round Rock Independent School District ranks among the best in the state. Of 42 schools within RRISD, 12 were rated exemplary and 11 are recognized. The majority of academic strengths are within the elementary schools, as Canyon Vista MS was the only non-primary school to receive an exemplary rating, and Westwood HS was the only non-primary school to receive the recognized rating. No RRISD schools received an academically unacceptable rating.
Round Rock has been represented in the Texas House of Representatives since 2009 by Democratic member Diana Maldonado, a former Round Rock ISD school board member.
Former Round Rock City Council member Tedford Williamson (born 1957) is the scion of a Louisiana-based political family whose service dates back to the early 1930s.
In 1851 a small community was formed on the banks of Brushy Creek, near a large round rock located in the middle of the creek. This round rock marked a convenient low-water crossing for wagons, horses and cattle. The first postmaster called the community Brushy Creek, but in 1854 the small settlement was renamed Round Rock in honor of this now famous rock. The "round rock" is located near Chisholm Trail Street in the middle of Brushy Creek. After the Civil War, Jesse Chisholm began to move cattle from South Texas through Round Rock, on the way to Abilene, Kansas. The route he established, which crossed Brushy Creek at the round rock became known as the Chisholm Trail. Most of the old buildings, including the old Saint Charles Hotel are still there today. This historic area is now called "Old Town."
Downtown Round Rock is the site of the gunfight and subsequent capture (then death) of the nineteenth-century American train robber, Sam Bass, by the Texas Ranger Division on July 19, 1878. The event is known locally as the "Sam Bass Shootout." This shootout is recreated each year in Downtown Round Rock. Bass is buried in Round Rock Cemetery, located northwest of "Old Town" on Sam Bass Road. His original headstone can be found on display at the Round Rock Public Library.
Infamous con man Soapy Smith lived in Round Rock and claimed to have witnessed the Sam Bass shootout. It was in this city that Soapy started his criminal career.