The City of Bee Cave is rich in history. The City, as we know it today, did not exist until 1987, but the idea of an area where people could live without the influence of “big city” government has been the area’s “calling card” for over 140 years. As early as the 1850s, Dietrich Bohls moved from Austin to his new home at the confluence of Barton Creek and Little Barton Creek. The population of Austin had reached 900 people, and Mr. Bohls was looking for a place to raise his family away from the confines of the city and its influence.
At the time, the land west of Austin still had Indians roaming over it; therefore, other settlers in the area were scarce. The Bohls family was one of the first families to settle on the land that would become the City of Bee Cave. The area derived its name from the colonies of Mexican honeybees that lived in the banks of Barton Creek and Little Barton Creek that encompassed a large area of Western Travis County. In 1987, the City of Bee Cave administration had its humble, but proud, beginning in a nondescript portable building. The City of Bee Cave encompassed a two-square mile area with 8,800 acres of extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The Village of Bee Cave formed originally as a Type-A General Law city with an Alderman-Mayor form of government. In 2006, action was taken to officially change from Village of Bee Cave to the City of Bee Cave. In February, 2013 a commission was formed and voters approved the new Home Rule Charter in May, 2013. The elected City Council sets the policies for operation of the City government. The administrative responsibility of the city rests with the City Manager who is appointed by the Council. The City Council consists of six members – a Mayor and five Council members. Mayor and City Council are elected to two-year staggered terms annually on the first Saturday in May.
