Copyright The Austin Chronicle
The Village of Rockne, an unincorporated community in the southwest corner of Bastrop County, is credited with being the only town in the country named after the legendary college football coach Knute Rockne. Born in Norway and raised in Chicago, Rockne became a national celebrity in his 13 seasons at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He is regarded as one of the greatest college football coaches of all time. Historians credit him with turning the forward pass into a powerful gridiron weapon. Rockne was killed in a plane crash in 1931 at 43 years old. The nation mourned his passing. In 1931, the German Catholic farming community in Bastrop County was looking for a new name. It had unofficially gone by Walnut Creek, Lehmanville, and then Hilbigville after the local grocer. The town needed an official name. The pastor at Sacred Heart Catholic Church suggested two names as finalists: Rockne and Kilmer for poet Joyce Kilmer. Neither had any connection to Texas. The children of the church school were to decide the town name by vote. The results were a tie until Edith Goertz changed her vote the next day, and the rest is history. A bust of Knute Rockne by Jerry McKenna of Boerne was placed in front of the Rockne Museum in 2006. The museum, a collection of items from the original German families and historic buildings, is open most Saturday afternoons from noon to 4pm. Rockne is about 30 miles southeast of Austin and has an estimated population of 200 scattered around the junction of FM 20 and FM 535. Besides the beautiful church, the town has Leon’s Country Store, an old-fashioned rural bar that welcomes everybody after 3pm except on Mondays. Across the road is Meuth’s Place, known for its chicken-fried steak and other fried foods, open Friday and Saturday from 11am-2pm and 5-8pm. 1,779th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/day-trips. This article appears in November 7 • 2025.
