North of Austin and south of Temple, Bartlett is a station on the Katy Railroad, Hwy 95, and the border between Williamson County and Bell County.
Though there were settlers in the area as early as 1851, Bartlett was founded when the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company began surveying for a right-of-way in 1881.
With the decline of the cotton industry in the 1920s and 1930s, the Bartlett Western (an earlier railroad) experienced financial difficulties and eventually closed in 1935. The town was also heavily dependent on cotton and declined somewhat in this period, though in 1931 it was still a substantial community of 1,873 people and 95 businesses. Bartlett continued to shrink during the depression; by 1940 its population was estimated at 1,668, and it had 75 businesses.
The population was 1,622 in 1970 and 1,567 in 1980. In 1988 the town had 1,556 inhabitants and 15 businesses. In 1990 the population was 1,439.