The Bastrop County Historical Society Museum recently opened a new permanent exhibit featuring the history of the coal mines in Bastrop County. From 1902 to 1944, lignite mining was the county’s leading industry, and Bastrop County had the largest deposit of lignite in the state. According to a November-December 1920 edition of Interstate Index: A Journal of Progress, it was noted that Bastrop County had the largest deposit of lignite in Texas, and the lignite was considered of the highest quality. The publication continued, saying: “Underlying the fertile soils of Bastrop County are scams of lignite, capable of supplying the state with ...