A part of the grant to
Stephen F. Austin in 1821
Created a municipality under the
Mexican government in 1828
Became a county of the
Republic of Texas, March 17, 1836
Named in honor of
Stephen Fuller Austin, 1793-1836
Pioneer . . . — — Map (db m125601) HM
Calling their old jail "unsafe, unfit, and inadequate," the Austin County Court contracted in 1896 with Pauly Jail Building Co. of St. Louis to erect this structure at cost of $19,970. Romanesque Revival style, with crenelated parapets, bartizans, . . . — — Map (db m125600) HM
Brothers Thomas and James Bell came to this area from Florida in 1822 with Stephen F. Austin's colony and acquired about 2,000 acres of land in 1837. Thomas Bell offered a portion of his land at this site for a new townsite to replace San Felipe . . . — — Map (db m125599) HM
Singing society organized in home of Fritz Schlecht, at Piney (3.5 mi. E), 1860. Members: Fritz Brandes, Heinrich and Gustav Koch, Joseph and Theo Menke, Herman Mueller, Fritz Schultz. Emil Koch, director. Hall (built 1877), wrecked by 1900 storm, . . . — — Map (db m157521) HM
Bellville was founded as County Seat of Austin County in January 1848, on land provided by Thomas Bell, for whom the town was named. The railroad reached Bellville in 1879-80, and the population increased substantially in the ensuing years.
In . . . — — Map (db m157579) HM
In the 19th century two organizations, the Bellville Social Club and the Bellville Turnverein Gut Heil, sponsored community-wide social activities. The Social Club purchased this property from Herman Miller in 1883 and planned construction of a . . . — — Map (db m117609) HM
Rebecca Cumings and her three brothers, James, John, and William, migrated to Texas from Virginia in 1821. As members of Stephen F. Austin's "Old 300" colony, they were given 20,000 acres here in return for the construction and operation of a mill . . . — — Map (db m157520) HM
Situated on land originally granted by the Mexican Government to Austin County pioneer John Nichols. This Vernacular Italianate commercial building was constructed in 1896 by E. Oscar Finn and John Thomas Colleton. E. O. Finn (1866-1945) a native . . . — — Map (db m157539) HM
The heritage of Bellville Methodist Church dates to 1822, when Thomas B. Bell came to Texas from Florida with Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. He settled in an area west of the Brazos River, and donated fifty acres of land . . . — — Map (db m157592) HM
The First National Bank of Bellville, chartered on February 25, 1890, is the oldest bank in Austin County, and one of four national banks in Texas still in existence that were chartered in 1890. The first officers were E. J. Marshall, President; C. . . . — — Map (db m125598) HM
Johann Joachim Henrich Frederick (J. H.) Hintz (1841-1920), a native of Ziesendorf, Mecklenburg, Germany, immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1855. The Hintzes settled in the Millheim area, and Joachim joined the Cat Spring Agricultural . . . — — Map (db m157511) HM
A significant example of the Craftsman bungalow designed by prominent Houston architect Alfred C. Finn, this house is unusual for its one-and-one-half story form. The residence displays hallmark geometric ornamentation broad porches, and a small . . . — — Map (db m157524) HM
Michael Machemehl, a member of the German Forty-Eighters, came to America from Annaberg, Saxony in 1849 with his wife, Mary Bubash, and their son, Johann. Land purchased by the family consisted of 800 acres and was divided among father and son. The . . . — — Map (db m202592) HM
A member of the Mier Expedition, 1842
Born in Grantham, England March 30, 1820
Died January 4, 1865
Erected by the State of Texas 1936 — — Map (db m157516) HM
Frederick William (1800-1854) and Marie Louise Starke (1827-1894) Luhn purchased 697 acres here in 1848. When Frederick died in 1854, he was buried on this homestead just east of their log home. A year later, Marie married John Siegfried . . . — — Map (db m157513) HM
Anglicans in Bellville began gathering for informal worship services in the 1850s at the home of Bellville attorney Nehemiah Holland. In 1861, Bishop Alexander Gregg held the first official service in the Masonic Lodge building, under the . . . — — Map (db m157585) HM
As Pilgers Ruh Friedhof Gemeinde First land purchased from Wm. Graf, 2 acres, 6-10-1881 by Trustees J. Harloff · O. Sander · F. Drop, 3-10-1881 Colbert and Anita Mewis donated 3.29 acres to the cemetery
Total acres 1990: 9.64
Oldest tomb . . . — — Map (db m157633) HM
The petition to form a Masonic lodge in Bellville was initiated by members of Chappell Hill Lodge No. 67. Bellville Lodge No. 223 was chartered in 1858. Zimri Hunt, an early Bellville lawyer, served as first Worshipful Master. In 1858, lodge . . . — — Map (db m157586) HM
The son of a Prussian immigrant, Emil H. Harigel, Sr. (1859-1904) opened a hardware, tinware, and stove emporium in Bellville in 1881. Soon after, he constructed this residence for his wife, Nannie Louise (Lovette), and children. The home features . . . — — Map (db m201989) HM
Austin County Historic School Site
This was the location of:
Grant School
1919 - 1965
An early Austin County School, this plaque commemorating this historic site was made possible by citizens of Austin County under . . . — — Map (db m202594) HM
Austin County pioneer and Texas War for Independence veteran, Elemelech Swearingen, was born in Shepherdsville Kentucky (Bullitt Co.) in 1805. He married Angelina Weeks (1811-1883) in 1827 and in 1831, moved with his family to Texas. The Swearingens . . . — — Map (db m202526) HM
In Jan. 1831 Charles Fordtran, a German of Huguenot descent, joined the colony of Stephen F. Austin. His first work was to survey land for Austin's partner, Samuel May Williams. He was given a league (4,428.4 acres) as his fee. Soon he brought in . . . — — Map (db m146168) HM
Fisches Park is part of the original land granted to Frederich Ernst, known as "The Father of German Immigration to Texas." Industry is the oldest permanent German settlement in Texas and was settled by J.F. Fisches, who came to Texas from . . . — — Map (db m176188) HM
Christian Friedrich Ernst (Dirks) was born in Germany in 1796. Friedrich Ernst was inducted into the German Army in 1814 and served for five years. He married Louise Gesine Auguste Weber in 1819. They became the parents of Caroline, John . . . — — Map (db m165425) HM
Nicholaus Henniger (1794-1853) came to Texas from Germany in 1847 with his wife Fredericke and children Christian, Hermann, August, Caroline and Pauline. On his farm he built a log house, kept peace with passing Indians, and prospered as a . . . — — Map (db m96289) HM
Founded by Friedrich Ernst • Born at Varel, Oldenburg, Germany • Immigrated to America, 1829 and to Texas in 1831 • Died here in 1858 • The Town was laid out in 1838 — — Map (db m165426) HM
The Industry Brethren Church is the third oldest congregation of the Unity of the Brethren located in the German settlement of Industry. Periodic worship services were conducted in Industry beginning in 1860. The Rev. Josef Opocensky was the first . . . — — Map (db m176210) HM
German settlers Friedrich Ernst and Charles Fordtran founded Industry, Texas in 1831. The settlement was part of the Stephen F. Austin Colonial Land Grant and was the first permanent German settlement in Texas. Although cigar making dominated the . . . — — Map (db m176171) HM
Organized 1847 by the Rev. Henry Bauer, missionary to the German settlers. In 1867, this building was erected under the leadership of the pastor, the Rev. Karl Biel. This was an era of financial difficulty, and the funds were raised only by very . . . — — Map (db m176223) HM
Soon after Friedrich Ernst and Charles Fordtran came to the area at the western side of Stephen F. Austin's grant in 1831, now Austin County, the town of Industry became the first permanent German settlement in Texas. Following the Gotier Trace, . . . — — Map (db m176225) HM
During Mexican rule of Texas, a post office was established in May of 1830 at San Felipe, the center of Stephen F. Austin's Texas colony. On the Gotier Trace, a road connecting San Felipe to what would become the town of Bastrop, the German family . . . — — Map (db m165423) HM
On February 11, 1911, a group of local citizens took the first steps in forming a bank to be called First Guaranty State Bank of Industry. Dr. B.E. Knolle served as the bank's first president and E. Lindemann served as first vice president. By . . . — — Map (db m176172) HM
This burial ground has served Industry, the oldest permanent German settlement in Texas, since the mid-1800s. Property for a cemetery was deeded to the Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1854. During the 1860s, the church split into the Methodist . . . — — Map (db m201959) HM
A native of Oldenburg, Germany, John Friedrich Ernst (1820-1863) emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of nine. In 1831, they traveled from New York City to Texas, finally arriving in what is now the town of Industry. The . . . — — Map (db m165424) HM
This house dates to 1870, when Jacob Ott (1848-1932) began construction on a home with his carpenter neighbor, August Gruensendorf. The bottom story of the two-level structure was used for his baking business and the upper story was Ott's . . . — — Map (db m176213) HM
The history of the Lindemann store dates to 1884, when Edward Lindemann (1859-1931) and Franz Getschmann opened a general store in the German community of Industry. By 1889, the business had prospered so well that Lindemann bought his partner's . . . — — Map (db m176212) HM
Founded by the Concord Christian Church in 1870, Concord Cemetery (also known as the Concord Church Cemetery) sits on 3.4 acres of land in northern Austin County and is part of the Concord Christian Church. The earliest known grave is that of Dr. . . . — — Map (db m202580) HM
A native of Circleville Ohio, J.B. Pier came to Texas in 1835 with his wife Lucy (Merry). The Piers settled in this area near the site of the early Texas town of Travis. Pier served as a member of the Texas Army during the War for Independence. He . . . — — Map (db m202586) HM
One of great pioneer Methodist ministers of Texas. Pennsylvania - born. He began preaching at age 19. In 1833 he came to Texas and soon settled in this county. Unkempt in appearance, Kenney redeemed his eccentricity with an eloquent style of . . . — — Map (db m202581) HM
People from Czechy began to come to America for liberty as early as 1633. First known Czech in Texas was Jiri Rybar (George Fisher), customs officer in Galveston in 1829. Others arrived individually for years before letters sent home by the Rev. . . . — — Map (db m165429) HM
Austin County Historic School Site This was the location of: Nelsonville School 1880 - 1947 An early Austin County School, this plaque commemorating this historic site was made possible by citizens of Austin County under sponsorship of . . . — — Map (db m165433) HM
In 1926, Jan Jindrich Frnka (d. 1935) and his wife, Cecilie (Kroulik) (d. 1933), conveyed property to three trustees for use as a family burial ground. J.J. and Cecilie Frnka were parents of thirteen children; all of the children, with the exception . . . — — Map (db m30737) HM
Born along the Czech - Moravian border, Josef Lidumil Lešikar received early training as a tailor. During the Revolution of 1848, he became a spokesman for political freedom in his homeland. In 1853 he led a group of immigrants to the new Czech . . . — — Map (db m183874) HM
The town of New Ulm was originally called Duff's Settlement at the time of its founding, and was named for James C. Duff, who in 1841 acquired title to the site upon which the settlement was founded. A post office began operation in 1853. At that . . . — — Map (db m30726) HM
First known as Duff's Settlement in honor of James C. Duff to whom the land was granted in 1841 • Settled by Germans after 1845 and renamed in honor of the German city of Ulm — — Map (db m176227) HM
Lutheran clergy served people in this area as early as 1886, but this congregation did not officially begin until 1890. The first worship service was held in the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Stern, and Henry Stern deeded land for a church and cemetery. . . . — — Map (db m202574) HM
In 1890, Phillipsburg residents formed the St. Paul Lutheran Church. Later that year, Henry Stern deeded eight acres of land for a church and school and one acre for a cemetery. The first burial is that of the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl . . . — — Map (db m202575) HM
Named for 1822 settler David Shelby, this town grew up at the mill of German pioneer Otto Von Roeder. The Ohlendorfs, Vogelsangs, Rothermels, and Vanderwerths arrived in 1845; other Germans came in ensuing years. The post office opened 1846 with . . . — — Map (db m96288) HM
Ideally Situated Close to Commerce Square and the Brazos River, these two lots were near the center of town. Like many San Felipe lots, the property changed hands several times. First developed by the Calvit family, its last owner was Almyra . . . — — Map (db m206287) HM
Near this site stood
A Town Hall
Built about 1830
in which were held
the First and Second Conventions
of Texas, 1832 and 1833,
and the Consultation of 1835
the provisional government functioned
here until March 2, 1836, when . . . — — Map (db m43759) HM
Stephen F. Austin hoped his colony in Texas would help his family prosper. But the business of
being an empresario proved financially disappointing. Hoping a family business - like a store - would generate income, Austin encouraged his . . . — — Map (db m206267) HM
Austin's land office and its agents set about carving civilization out of the untamed Texas wilderness. Mapping and surveying land at a whirlwind pace, Austin's office issued nearly 1500 land grants to settlers in Mexican Texas between 1823 and . . . — — Map (db m201786) HM
Downtown San Felipe was the center of the colony, but its farms and ranches fed settlers and generated profits that helped the colony thrive. Farm plots, or labors, measuring 177 acres each spread outward from town - many along waterways, which . . . — — Map (db m206323) HM
San Felipe's First Townsfolk Arrived to find the "town" yet to be built. Many raised their houses, kitchens and stables with their own hands.
Austin also enlisted skilled housewrights (house builders), sawyers, teamsters and blacksmiths to . . . — — Map (db m206316) HM
In Late March 1836, the Texian Army was in retreat ahead of Santa Anna's advancing Mexican forces. The retreat spurred the "Runaway Scrape" - a wave of settlers fleeing for their lives. To prevent the enemy from benefitting from San Felipe's . . . — — Map (db m206186) HM
As the Number of Permanent Residents in San Felipe grew, a business district developed west of Commerce Square. Merchants, including Nathaniel Townsend and George Huff, supplied shoppers with goods from around the world. Tailors cut clothes to . . . — — Map (db m206271) HM
Stocked With Goods From Cincinnati, Nicholas Clopper's store in San Felipe opened in 1826. Clopper faced the challenges of all merchants on the frontier. The town was "in a state of infancy" and home to only nine families of resident customers. . . . — — Map (db m206272) HM
Godwin B. Cotten tried printing in Alabama, Louisiana and Tamaulipas, Mexico, before setting out The Texas Gazette and the first book published in Texas: Translation of the Laws, Orders, and Contracts, on Colonization.
Cotten . . . — — Map (db m206260) HM
During the mid-1820's, When Stephen F. Austin was founding this town, the only roads in the area were wagon ruts or beaten trails marked by notched trees. Within a decade, however, the village of San Felipe, one of the first Anglo settlements in . . . — — Map (db m43718) HM
With his Empresario contract in hand, Stephen F. Austin searched out a suitable location for the "capital" of his colony. Together with surveyors and guides, Austin selected a site where a ferry crossed the Brazos River. By late October . . . — — Map (db m206331) HM
Czech immigrants began settling in this area in the 1850s. They named their new community Frydek after a town in their homeland. When two people died in 1885, they were buried here on land owned by Jan Pavlicek. By 1890, when Pavlicek officially . . . — — Map (db m145792) HM
In the Town's Early Years, Empresario Stephen F. Austin filled many roles. Administrator of land grants and court judge, Austin also coordinated with Mexican government officials. He managed the growing town, and as colonel of the . . . — — Map (db m206275) HM
The first known person to occupy the land where the Hill House is located was Judge Robert M. "Three Legged Willie" Williamson. During his ownership, the community of San Felipe de Austin was burned to the ground by order of Moseley Baker, a . . . — — Map (db m202605) HM
Built by John Crutcher in 1847 on the Plaza de Commercio in San Felipe, this was the last store built in the town after its 1836 burning by military order. Purchased in 1867 by Dr. J.J. Josey, it was in continuous operation as a store until 1942. . . . — — Map (db m43760) HM
Jane Wilkins and her family were among the Colony's earliest immigrants and the first to
settle what is now the City of Houston. By 1827, Wilkins and her two daughters, Jane and Mary, had made a home in San Felipe. They also received a league . . . — — Map (db m206262) HM
In memory of
John Bricker
a private in Captain Mosley Baker’s
company, who was killed just
across the river from this site
April 7th 1836 by a shot from a
Mexican cannon, and was buried
where he fell. He was born in
Cumberland . . . — — Map (db m43758) HM
Beginning in the 1920s local leaders looked for ways to commemorate this important colonial Texas history site. After 15 years planning and developing the property for its transition to the State in 1940, local supporters created a Friends . . . — — Map (db m201789) HM
Empresario Stephen F. Austin Considered several sites for his colony's headquarters, but this location on the Brazos River had a convenient advantage. A ferry, operated by an early settler named John McFarland, took travelers on the . . . — — Map (db m206274) HM
First Anglo-American capital of Texas. Came into being on July 26, 1828, as capital of the Austin Colony, by decree of the Mexican government. Father of Texas Stephen F. Austin had begun under the 1821 grant from Mexico the settlement of more than . . . — — Map (db m116924) HM
San Felipe de Austin was established in 1824 as the community and administrative headquarters of Stephen F. Austin's original Anglo American colony in Texas. The site for the township was chosen by Austin and the Baron Felipe Enrique Neri de . . . — — Map (db m116994) HM
[Side 1] San Felipe de Austin Town Site laid off by Stephen F. Austin as the Capital of his Colony in 1824 Here was held the only Federal District Court ever convened in Texas under Mexican rule
[Side 2]
Events leading to Revolution, First . . . — — Map (db m163048) HM
Austin County Historic School Site This was the location of: San Felipe School 1880 - 1952 An early Austin County School, this plaque commemorating this historic site was made possible by citizens of Austin County under sponsorship of . . . — — Map (db m165437) HM
In 1837, the town of San Felipe de Austin was incorporated and the town council built a multi-purpose building to be used as a town hall, school, and church on land known as “Constitution Square.” The one-story building was constructed . . . — — Map (db m116927) HM
A neighborhood on the east edge of town was home to a number of Tejanos, or native born Texans. The cluster of families was referred to as Spanish Town.
Some families had been driven from their homes during Mexico's war for independence . . . — — Map (db m206325) HM
Between 1821 and 1835, Austin shaped the course of colonial Texas. Here, he built his only home in Texas. His log cabin also served as the colony's land office, and became the center of San Felipe commerce.
Following a plan begun by his . . . — — Map (db m201785) HM
Replica of
Stephen F. Austin's Cabin
This structure is a replica of the only Texas home of Stephen F. Austin, “Father of Texas.” The chimney contains bricks from original (1828) cabin. Other materials were made as . . . — — Map (db m156552) HM
Stephen F. Austin • Father of Texas, November 3, 1793-December 27, 1836. He planted the first Anglo-American colony in Texas • "The Old Three Hundred"• In his several colonies he settled more than a thousand families. He was from 1823 until 1828 . . . — — Map (db m116925) HM
After the fall of the Alamo on March 6th, 1836 General Sam Houston and his Texian volunteers retreated to the east from Gonzales. Colonists evacuated and abandoned their homes and property in what became known as the Runaway Scrape.
Local . . . — — Map (db m201788) HM
The Convention of 1833, followed by the Consultation in 1835, reflected the growing tension between the colonists and the Mexican government. The fateful military and political events of late 1835, would sway Austin to the war movement. . . . — — Map (db m201787) HM
William Barret Travis is remembered as a revolutionary patriot and martyr of the Alamo. Before he gave his life for Texas' independence, he was a young attorney in San Felipe who ran a law office located on lot 50.
Travis represented his . . . — — Map (db m206178) HM
Between 1823 and 1836, San Felipe de Austin was the focal point for issues related to the immigration and settlement of American colonists in Mexican-controlled Texas.
This site marks the central business district of San Felipe de Austin . . . — — Map (db m201784) HM
Sealy developed on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railway in 1879. Cotton, rice, corn, cattle and related agricultural businesses supported a quickly-growing economy. In 1907, F.W. Hackbarth, Jr. and his son, John Hackbarth, developed commercial . . . — — Map (db m162564) HM
German natives F.W. (Fritz) and Carolyn (Krampitz) Hackbarth arrived in Galveston in 1846 with their two sons. They settled in Austin County, where Fritz farmed and ranched, and the couple had four more children, including F.W. Hackbarth, Jr. . . . — — Map (db m162567) HM
Daniel Haynes (1828-1913) came to the new railroad town of Sealy in 1881. In 1885 he invented a process and a machine to manufacture a felted cotton, non-tufted mattress. Trademarked under the Haynes name, the mattresses were sold throughout the . . . — — Map (db m162570) HM
This house was built in 1901-1902 for H. Schumacher. It was purchased in 1906 by Richard H. Haynes (1875-1942) who, with his father, founded the Haynes (Sealy) Mattress Company in 1909. Local confectionery store owner F.J. Felcman bought the . . . — — Map (db m162558) HM
Sealy's German immigrants were famous for their love of music. A group of men, some of them Sealy's pioneer settlers, had formed a singing society, called Liedertafel, by 1899. They met primarily in the home of Ferdinand Lux. Lux and Fritz Kinkler, . . . — — Map (db m71567) HM
German immigrants arriving in Texas during the 1840s soon established singing societies in their new communities to carry on the traditions of their homeland. Although in existence by 1856, the Millheim Harmonie Verein officially organized in . . . — — Map (db m177073) HM
Completed in 1911 for civic leaders Paul and Mahala Hackbarth, this concrete block house is an unusual example of vernacular architecture. Prominent features include a wraparound porch, Ionic columns on piers, and large wood sash windows. The . . . — — Map (db m162563) HM
German immigrant Adolph H. Preibisch and his wife, Emilie, came to Austin County in 1860. After the town of Sealy developed along the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad, the Preibisches bought property in the new railroad town. In 1885, Adolph . . . — — Map (db m162569) HM
This congregation was organized in 1885, five years after the railroad town of Sealy was founded. Among the Church's early supporters was railroad official George Sealy, for whom the town was named and who served on the Missionary Board of the . . . — — Map (db m162562) WM
Founded in 1879 on the route of the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad, Sealy was named for Galveston businessman and railroad president George Sealy (1835-1901). By January 1880 a depot was established here, and both freight and passenger . . . — — Map (db m162559) HM
In 1879 Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company agent George Sealy purchased 11,635 acres at this location from the township of San Felipe de Austin for the purpose of establishing a railroad depot. The village of Sealy soon developed around . . . — — Map (db m162576) HM
After preaching his first sermon in Sealy on February 11, 1883, Lutheran Missionary Reverend John Trinklein organized the Trinity Lutheran Church Congregation on October 31 of that same year. In the beginning, most of the congregation was of . . . — — Map (db m162561) HM
On April 26, 1903, fifteen members of local church Die Friedens Gemeinde organized a new church called Die Deutsche Evangelische Lutherische Saint Paulus Gemeinde, or St. Paul German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. The Rev. Albert . . . — — Map (db m176209) HM
This congregation was organized in 1892 by several Czech families who had relocated from Fayette County, Texas, to an area about 3 miles southeast of Wallis, Texas. The congregation held services in the Krasna School building which was located on . . . — — Map (db m168503) HM
This land was purchased for the purpose of establishing a school, church, and cemetery by P.L. Habermacher, Miles J. Allen, and J.S. Dabney in 1903. The Hartsville school was a 2 room building that was used until 1939 when students were . . . — — Map (db m168498) HM
