HORSESHOE BAY, TEXAS. Horseshoe Bay is located off Farm Road 2147 and on Lake Lyndon B. Johnson in the southeastern corner of Llano County and southwestern corner of Burnet County about twenty-four miles southeast of Llano and six miles southwest of Marble Falls.

The land was a ranch when cousins Wayne and Norman Hurd began development of a lakeshore resort area about 1972. Wayne Hurd reportedly named the community after finding a horseshoe in the lakebed during a period when the lake level had dropped.

During the next two decades the community grew to serve primarily retirees and resort-goers. Many of the homes served as second homes. Horseshoe Bay had its own municipal utility district which provided services.

In 1990 the population was 1,546, and a post office opened in the mid-1990s. By 2000 the population had grown to 3,337 with thirty-seven listed businesses. Residents incorporated in 2005 and elected a mayor and city council.

The retirement and resort community offers many recreational amenities including three eighteen-hole golf courses, a hotel, a marina, and a yacht club. Horseshoe Bay also has two banks, two churches, a police department, and a fire department.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Mac Abell, Gambler with Heart (n.p., 1991). Horeshoe Bay, Texas.

Laurie E. Jasinski