Oatmeal, Texas


Oatmeal is an unincorporated community in Burnet County, Texas, United States. It is situated along RM 243, approximately eight miles southeast of Burnet and northwest of Austin.

History

The area's first settlers were German families during the late 1840s. The community's name is either an alteration of a Mr. Othneil – the area's first gristmill owner, or a supposed translation of the name Habermill. A post office was established in 1853 under the name Oatmeal. The first schoolhouse opened in 1858, only to be replaced by a second building eleven years later. A gin built in the 1870s continued to serve as a local landmark into the early 1900s. A cemetery was deeded in 1871, although burials were recorded in the area as early as 1854.
In 1936, Oatmeal had a school, two churches, and scattered dwellings. By 1990, the population was around twenty – consisting mostly of families engaged in farming and ranching. That figure remained the same in 2000.

Stringtown

Following the Civil War, a colony of freedmen, freed slaves, settled in the eastern part of Oatmeal. The settlement, known as Stringtown, included homes, a building used as a church and school, and Burnet County's only all-black cemetery. The community of Stringtown remained in existence until the early 1920s.

Culture

Oatmeal's watertower is painted to resemble a box of oatmeal.
Since 1978, the community of Oatmeal and the nearby city of Bertram have celebrated an annual Oatmeal Festival, originally a parody of chili cookoffs. Ken Odiorne, a local resident, started the tradition by writing to the major producers of oatmeal at the time to ask for assistance. Only one company, National Oats, responded.
The Oatmeal Festival has played a significant role in the continued notoriety and existence of Oatmeal, Burnet County's second oldest community.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Oatmeal has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.