BURNET, TEXAS. Burnet, the county seat of Burnet County, is one mile west of the divide between the Brazos and Colorado river watersheds near the center of the county, forty-eight miles northwest of Austin. In 1849 people on the frontier sought protection from the Indians at nearby Fort Croghan. The area was commonly called Hamilton or Hamilton Valley for John Hamilton, who had a league and labor of land there. A creek flowing through the league was also named for him. The town was founded as Hamilton in 1852, when Burnet County was established. In August of that year a post office in Hamilton was named Burnet Courthouse. In 1857 thirty-five residents of the town petitioned the state legislature to change the name of the town to Burnet since there was another town in Texas named Hamilton. The name was changed in 1858.