The compact historic core of old Round Rock along Mays Street and Round Rock Avenue is on the National Register of Historic Places. The late-19th-century limestone commercial buildings lining the streets are the architectural legacy of the town's days as a stop on the Chisholm Trail — the soft cream-coloured stone was quarried locally and gives the streetscape a cohesive, handsome character.
The district has antique shops, small restaurants, and cafes occupying the ground floors of these Victorian-era buildings. It is a walkable cluster that offers a genuine glimpse of what small Texas towns looked like before the automobile era, and makes a pleasant hour of wandering.