Bellville is a scenic small town and the county seat of Austin County in Southeast Texas, about forty miles Northwest of Houston. Bellville was established in 1822 after Thomas and James Bell immigrated there from Florida and donated over 145 acres of land to the County of Austin.
Today, shops and other businesses line Main Street. Some of the highlighted sites and attractions include the Austin County Museum (formerly the Bellville Jail), Fenix Blacksmith Shop (in the original 1800's Blacksmith shop) and the historic Courthouse Square. Unlike most counties, Bellville's Austin County Courthouse isn't one of the late 1800's Victorian beauties. A fire in 1960 destroyed the original courthouse and the courthouse was replaced with an 'Atomic Age' designed courthouse, which is one of three in Texas. Annual attractions include The Austin County Fair & Rodeo, Austin County Cruisers Car Stampede, The Chocolate Walk, Thursday Night Out, Small Town Christmas and most months there are Market Days on the Square and Bluegrass concerts at Coshatte Park. Market Day on the Square occurs on the first Saturday during most months. If you haven’t been and you're in the area, it is definitely something worth taking the time to go and enjoy.
You'll find vendors lining both sides of the Square offering visitors and residents an assortment of goods including plants, fresh canned goods, vintage finds and crafts. This popular day on the Square offers residents and visitors with food, fun, live entertainment and lots of shopping opportunities. The Austin County Car Stampede is another annual event each March that you won’t want to miss! It’s an event hosted by the local car club welcoming cars from all over the state and beyond to showcase their “babies” and hope to win a prize or a mention in honor of their well preserved beauty. Although Bellville is a small town, their passion for cars run big. Bellville is seemingly pretty normal and comparative to most towns at this point. But, did you know it is home to a real castle? Mike Newman decided to build what is known as Newman’s Castle in 1998 after traveling through Europe in his 20’s and having inspiration create this dream for him. His castle sports a 3000 pound drawbridge that floats atop its very own moat.
Now that is something worth seeing and yes, there are tours offered to see it If you need an excuse to come to Bellville and it’s not during Market Day, come for the eclectic restaurants and shops. Some of our favorites are the Silver Saddle Smokehouse, The Bistro (great chicken salad and Irish Car Bomb cupcakes), Carol’s at Cat Spring. On weekends, The Buffalo Creek Winery is a great place for dinner and music. Looking for great produce, check out Farm to Market Produce, which offers the area's best variety of fresh fruits and veggies. For shopping, there's Buck Fergeson Originals, Coco and Duckie and Amy's Unique Boutique. Come to Bellville for great shopping, good food and some serious small town charm!