Near Sublime in Lavaca County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Geiger Cemetery

Photographed by James Hulse, January 4, 2023

1. Geiger Cemetery Marker

Inscription. Near this site was a town once known as Strunksville. It consisted of a store, post office, saloon and a horse and mule gin owned and operated by one of the first settlers of the town in 1854, Diedrich Strunk on April 12, 1868, the Lutheran Church was organized by pastor Christoph Geiger, German Lutheran minister sent to the United States from missionary training school in Basel, Switzerland, to serve scattered communities and organize congregations where feasible. The community began burying their dead at Geiger Cemetery as early as 1868, though the date can be contended as some graves are unmarked or illegible.

In 1879, Diedrich Strunk, Robert Miller, Sr. and C. Fernau, trustees of the Lutheran Church, purchased 24 acres of land from the Grayson Brothers of Pennsylvania for the sum of $65.50, to include the cemetery. The first church building of the congregation was called Bethlehem. In 1886, Pastor Geiger planned the erection of a larger church on the same site and on May 26, 1887, Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church was complete. The church was moved to the growing town of Sublime to better serve its congregation, many of whom were residents of the town in 1905, the church was carefully taken down and moved by oxcart, where it was re-erected at its present location. The cemetery continued its use as the town's graveyard and in the 1950s, women of the Lutheran and Baptist Churches held ice cream socials and noodle soup suppers to raise funds for a chain link fence and an entrance gate for the cemetery. Families continue to come from miles around to maintain what is one of the oldest cemeteries in the area and one of the few remnants of a bygone town. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2009

Erected 2009 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 18117.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Religion & Religious Structures • Women. A significant historical date for this entry is April 12, 1868.

Location. 29° 30.531′ N, 96° 47.482′ W. Marker is near Sublime, Texas, in Lavaca County. It is on County Highway 146 half a mile north of County Highway 145, on the right when traveling north. The marker is located east of the cemetery access road and at the entrance to the cemetery. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2827 County Road 146, Hallettsville TX 77964, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the American South

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Republic of Texas,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Sublime Baptist Church (approx. 1.8 miles away); Zion Lutheran Church (approx. 1.9 miles away); Marshall

The Geiger Cemetery and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by James Hulse, January 4, 2023

2. The Geiger Cemetery and Marker

and Malinda Mitchell (approx. 2.6 miles away); Rabb Switch (approx. 4.2 miles away); Oakland Normal School (approx. 6.8 miles away); Oakland (approx. 6.8 miles away); Hackberry (approx. 7 miles away); Andrews Chapel Cemetery (approx. 8.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sublime.

The entrance to the Geiger Cemetery with the Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by James Hulse, January 4, 2023

3. The entrance to the Geiger Cemetery with the Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on January 8, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 7, 2023, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 492 times since then and 47 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 8, 2023, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.