Owl Creek

Owl Creek is a tiny community located off State Highway 36 about fourteen miles northwest of Temple in northern Bell County. It is named for a nearby creek. Settlement in the area began as early as the 1850s. By the 1890s Owl Creek had its own school district that served the children of farming families. The school probably operated sometime into the early 1900s. After the construction of Lake Belton in the 1950s Owl Creek Park opened on the upper north shore of the reservoir and provided picnicking, camping, and other recreational facilities. Owl Creek remained sparsely populated; no population figures were available until 1990, when the census recorded forty-five residents. That number remained the same in 2000.