A resort town on Lake Travis that grew into a Hill Country city, about 16 miles west of Austin.
01 — At a Glance
Lakeway is a city in western Travis County, on the south shore of Lake Travis along State Highway 620. The 2020 census counted 19,189 residents. Census figures give a total area of 13.39 square miles, including 0.75 square miles of water. The community dates its start to July 1963, when the Lakeway Inn opened, and the city incorporated in 1974. Lakeway ZIP Codes include 78734, 78738 and 78669, and the area code is 512.
Lake Travis ISD serves Lakeway, and Lake Travis High School is the district’s high school; the district plans a second one, Highland Lakes High School, for August 2029. Elementary schools in the district include Lakeway Elementary and Rough Hollow Elementary. Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Lakeway, off RM 620, opened its hospital in April 2012.
Sources: Wikipedia: Lakeway, Texas (U.S. Census Bureau figures) · Handbook of Texas · City of Lakeway · Lake Travis ISD
02 — History
Lakeway started as a resort on a Hill Country ranch, opened its inn and marina in 1963, and became a village in 1974.
1962
Lakeway was founded on the site of a 2,700-acre ranch owned by Houston oilman and rancher Jack Josey. In early 1962, three Houston men tied to the Gulfmont Hotel Company, G. Flint Sawtelle, John H. Crooker Jr. and Lee Blocker, took a sixty-day option on the land to plan a hotel and resort community. The name followed Gulfmont’s Fairway Motor Hotel in McAllen.
Source: Handbook of Texas: Lakeway
1963
Property sales began on May 30, 1963. The Lakeway Inn and Marina opened to local guests on July 12 and officially on July 13, 1963, with tennis courts and a riding stable. Lady Bird Johnson and Governor John Connally were among the early guests. The inn is today’s Lakeway Resort and Spa.
Source: Handbook of Texas: Lakeway · Lakeway: A Hill Country Community (Portal to Texas History) · City of Lakeway: Anniversaries
1971
When the Lakeway Land Company was sold to a Dallas group on April 26, 1971, Lakeway had 300 homes and 1,000 developed acres.
Source: Handbook of Texas: Lakeway
1974
In 1974, property owners voted to incorporate with the consent of the City of Austin, creating the 1,200-acre Village of Lakeway. Residents elected a three-member commission, with Newt Herndon as the first mayor.
Source: Handbook of Texas: Lakeway · City of Lakeway: Anniversaries
1990
Once the population passed 5,000, the village qualified as a home-rule city. Voters approved a city charter in May 1990, establishing the City of Lakeway.
Source: City of Lakeway: Anniversaries
2020
The 2020 census counted 19,189 people in Lakeway, up from 11,391 in 2010 and 790 in 1980.
Source: Wikipedia: Lakeway, Texas · Handbook of Texas: Lakeway
03 — Lake Travis
1942
LCRA and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built Mansfield Dam across the Colorado River at Marshall Ford from 1937 to 1942. The dam is 278 feet high and 7,089 feet long, and it forms Lake Travis.
Source: LCRA: Dams and lakes
681 ft
Lake Travis is considered full for water supply at 681 feet above mean sea level, when it holds about 1.1 million acre-feet across 19,044 acres. It is the one lake in the Highland Lakes chain designed to hold back floodwaters.
Source: LCRA: Dams and lakes
5 mi
Lakeway sits on Lake Travis and State Highway 620, five miles west of Mansfield Dam. Hurst Creek runs through the city and empties into the lake.
Source: Handbook of Texas: Lakeway · Wikipedia: Lakeway, Texas
04 — Parks, Golf and the Airpark
The marina opened with the Lakeway Inn in 1963, and it describes itself as the first marina on Lake Travis. The inn is now Lakeway Resort and Spa.
Source: Lakeway Marina: About · Lakeway: A Hill Country Community (Portal to Texas History)
A 64.66-acre waterfront park on Hurst Creek Road, acquired in 1992 and reachable by water from Hurst Creek Cove. It has nearly two miles of trails, swim areas, kayaking and fishing, two play areas and the Bark Park.
Source: City of Lakeway: City Park · City of Lakeway: 2021 Parks & Open Space Master Plan
Opened in April 1990 on land donated by Jack and Myrtle Hamilton. The trail network now runs for several miles along Hurst and Yaupon creeks, and the Chapel of the Four Seasons sits near the Lohmans Crossing entrance.
Two of the four courses at The Hills Country Club carry Lakeway addresses: Live Oak on Lakeway Drive and Yaupon on Clubhouse Drive. Live Oak has been renovated with updated greens.
Source: The Hills Country Club: Golf · City of Lakeway: 2021 Parks & Open Space Master Plan
Jack Josey built a private ranch runway here in 1962. Since 1995, Lakeway Airpark, Inc., a nonprofit run by its members, has owned the 39-acre field, which is open for public use. The paved runway 16/34 is 3,930 feet long, and about 30 homes have direct taxi access.
Source: Lakeway Airpark: About · Wikipedia: Lakeway Airpark (FAA data) · Community Impact: Lakeway Airpark
The library opened in 1985 inside Lake Travis High School and moved into its own building in Lakeway’s Tuscan Village area in February 2013, on land donated in 2011.
Source: Lake Travis Community Library: History · Wikipedia: Lakeway, Texas
Photographs on this site: Ryan Heise, Courtney Greene, Dale Honeycutt and Anvesh Uppunuthula (Lake Travis), Salvo Media LLC, Zac Gudakov and Roberto Nickson, via Unsplash.
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