[7] Spanish soldiers lived temporarily at the current site of Bastrop as early as 1804, when a fort was established where the Old San Antonio Road crossed the Colorado River and named Puesta del Colorado.

Austin arranged for Mexican officials to name a new town there after the baron who died the same year.

On June 8, 1832, the town was platted along conventional Mexican lines, with a square in the center and blocks set aside for public buildings.

The town was incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Texas on December 18, 1837, and the name was changed back to Bastrop.

Bastrop began supplying Austin with lumber in 1839 and then San Antonio, the western Texas frontier, and parts of Mexico.

In 1979, the National Register of Historic Places admitted 131 Bastrop buildings and sites to its listings.

This was the worst and most destructive wildfire in Texas history, as it destroyed 1,691 homes, killed two people, and caused $325 million of insured property damage.

The drought in Texas at the time combined with strong winds from the Gulf of Mexico caused by Tropical Storm Lee helped fuel the fire.

[8] Three miles (5 km) northeast of the town, Lake Bastrop is a 906-acre (3.67 km2) reservoir on Spicer Creek operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) since its impounding in 1964.

As of 2020, the area's four largest employers are the Bastrop Independent School District, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, Bastrop County government, and MD Anderson Cancer Center.

[15] The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa (situated about 15 mi west of the City of Bastrop on 405 acres), opened on June 2, 2006, with 491 rooms and gave a boost to employment and sales tax in the area.

[21] Austin Community College conducts night and continuing-education classes at Bastrop High School.

[22] Several movies were at least partially filmed in Bastrop, including Lovin' Molly (1974), the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Home Fries (1998), Courage Under Fire (1996), and the 2004 remake of The Alamo.