In 1901, Edward E. Hildebrandt bought land from Moritz Richter and moved an existing house with the intention of creating a park with a community building. He built a 40' x 60' sixteen-cornered building with hardwood floors and a bandstand. Outside . . . — — Map (db m213603) HM
A native of Hanover, Germany, Charles Welhausen immigrated to Texas with his parents, arriving at the Port of Galveston in 1843. They settled first at Cat Spring in Austin County, and later moved to High Hill in Fayette County, where Charles . . . — — Map (db m179273) HM
Barbed wire, the railroad, and Germans and Czechs desiring to own small family farms combined to make cotton king in Lavaca County. From 1892 to 1971, cotton ginning, the cottonseed oil industry, and cotton export by rail were a vital part of . . . — — Map (db m179258) HM
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Shiner, Texas, was organized on November 1, 1887, in the office of L. P. Amsler, Shiner's first mayor. The Rev. C. C. Armstrong presided over the first service.
In 1889 local rancher David Kokernot . . . — — Map (db m128138) HM
In 1891, one year after Shiner was incorporated, Confederate Captain and local rancher Charles Welhausen established a private bank for the growing railroad town. Welhausen served as first president, with E.F. Wolters, William D. Green, Earl Fry . . . — — Map (db m179263) HM
The community of Half Moon was first mentioned in a 1689 account from Gov. Alonso de Leon's expedition when the group encountered a Native American tribe that called Half Moon their home. The area was known as Half Moon due to the peculiar shape of . . . — — Map (db m68496) HM
This Greek revival home (200 yds. N) was built in the 1880s by George Herder (1818-1887), veteran of the Texas Revolution and pioneer farmer and rancher in the Half Moon community. A son, William (d. 1940), later ran a butcher shop and farmed the . . . — — Map (db m68497) HM
Founded as outgrowth of an 1895 invention that used smooth wire discarded when barbed wire fencing was introduced in this area. August Kaspar, son of a Swiss Lutheran missionary to Texas, salvaged some of the plain wire and made a corn shuck basket . . . — — Map (db m95435) HM
Moved to this site, 1889, by David Kokernot, the builder. Given to Methodist Church and Masonic Lodge. First local Sunday School was held here. In 1914 church was relocated. Entire hall is now owned by Masons. Recorded Texas Historic . . . — — Map (db m179259) HM
Virginians William (1772 - 1834) and Isabella (Moreland) Ponton came to Texas in 1829 from Missouri. With them were their children Andrew, Sarah Ann, and Mary Jane and son-in-law James Patrick. Their son Joel Ponton arrived in 1834. The families . . . — — Map (db m227850) HM
The first Catholic school in Shiner was built in 1896 by Scherbohm and Mewes, contractors. The two story French style frame building housed two classrooms, a dining room and kitchen on the first floor, and a residence for the Sisters on the second . . . — — Map (db m128137) HM
Early German and Czech settlers in this area of Lavaca County attended Catholic worship services in private homes or at churches in Hallettsville or Moulton until 1890, when a new mission was established in Shiner by the Rev. John Anthony Forest. . . . — — Map (db m95442) HM
Sarah Howard suffered much at the savagery of the Texas wilderness. Born in Illinois, Sarah came to Texas with her husband, John McSherry, in 1828. The next year, John was killed near their home by Indians. Sarah later married John Hibbens, but . . . — — Map (db m128139) HM
Original site of a World War I cannon donated to the "Scrap Iron" Drive for World War II by the city of Shiner in 1942. Through efforts of the Shiner Bicentennial Committee of the U.S.A. In 1976, the U.S. Government replacement now stands in the . . . — — Map (db m179266) HM
Originated as German-Czech community of Half Moon, located west of present town. When the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Railroad came through in 1887, citizens moved to rail line, where H.B. Shiner, Victoria landowner, had given a townsite.
Shiner . . . — — Map (db m179265) HM
In February 1898, Nathan Austin, J.H. Hannah, Paul Mitchell and William O'Neal, trustees of the Shiner Colored Cemetery Association, bought 1.2 acres from Adolph and Emilie Hohertz for $100. They established a burial ground for Shiner's African . . . — — Map (db m179296) HM
William Wendtland (1856-1951) and Louis Wagener (1855-1936) built this structure in 1895. William Koch (1857-1928) enlarged the building with a rear addition in 1915. "The Opera House Saloon" and later other businesses occupied the lower floor, . . . — — Map (db m179261) HM
In August of 1887, H.B Shiner and August Hinze deeded land to the SA&AP Railroad Co. for the proposed city of Shiner.
At this time, ranching was the main source of community income. In 1898 a small wire products manufacturing plant was . . . — — Map (db m179291) HM
Czech Texans and members of the Lodge Texasky Mir No. 10 Shiner established this cemetery on April 14, 1906 to provide a burial place for SPJST (Slovanska Podporujici Jednota Statu Texas) members and their families. Local and regional SPJST . . . — — Map (db m179325) HM
Built by the Shiner Brewing Association, a stock company of local men. Sold in April 1915 to Kosmas Spoetzl (1873-1950), native of Bavaria and former operator of a brewery in Cairo, Egypt.
This plant remained open in 1918-33 (Prohibition era), . . . — — Map (db m95436) HM
In the summer of 1930, farmer/rancher and large landowner Jake Kurtz set aside four acres of his property on the west side of the newly-paved Texas State Highway 95 between Shiner and Moulton to build a large concrete swimming pool and recreational . . . — — Map (db m210285) HM
When Czech and German immigrants immigrated to the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries, they brought their culture with them, including dance and music. As these immigrants began to create communities in Texas, they built and popularized . . . — — Map (db m179254) HM
In the late 1800s, immigrants from central Europe streamed into central Texas, establishing several communities and introducing their cultures into existing towns. Many newcomers brought instruments, music and a love of dancing from the old country. . . . — — Map (db m213607) HM
Members of this historic church helped spread Lutheranism through Lavaca and surrounding counties. For acculturated German Texans and for new arrivals, the Lutheran Church also served as the focal point of educational and social activities. The . . . — — Map (db m179294) HM
Built in 1913 on land donated by Confederate veteran and local leader Capt. Charles Welhausen (1835-1916), this bandstand has been a center of cultural and social events in Shiner. Funds for construction were raised by the local Women's Civic . . . — — Map (db m179268) HM
