Marshall Ford

Marshall Ford is a resort and fishing center on Lake Travis eighteen miles northwest of Austin in Travis County. The original ford or low-water crossing of the Colorado River was used for many years to connect the agricultural and ranching areas of the western part of the county with Austin; the trading center and supply point in the bend of the river became the market for cedar timber and posts. In 1934 the area was taken over by the Lower Colorado River Authority, and Mansfield Dam was built as the key flood-control structure in a series of dams in the Colorado basin. A post office opened at Marshall Ford in 1937 with Jack S. Beauchamp as postmaster. The office was discontinued in 1942, and mail for the community was sent to Austin.