Grapetown, Texas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Grapetown, Texas
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| Motto(s):
Eintracht schützen Verein (Unity to Protect Society)
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 Grapetown, Texas
Location in Texas
Grapetown, Texas
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Gillespie |
| Elevation | 1,732 ft (528 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code(s) | 830 |
| FIPS code | 48 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1378377 |
Grapetown is a small farming and ranching community in Gillespie County, Texas. It is located about 9.5 miles south of Fredericksburg. Grapetown is not a city with its own government, but a group of homes and farms. It sits on South Grape Creek and is known for its history. The old Grapetown school building was named a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1984.
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Early Settlers and Community Life
In 1847, people living in the area asked for a new county to be created. In 1848, the state of Texas formed Gillespie County. Many of the people who signed the request were German immigrants.
One important family was Ferdinand Friedrich Wilhelm Doebbler and his wife Auguste Matheus. They came from Berlin, Germany, in 1846. By 1857, they opened the first business in Grapetown. It was called Doebbler's Inn and General Store. This place became a popular stop for travelers and a meeting spot for the community. It even had stables for horses. The business closed in 1915.
John Hemphill was the first person known to own a ranch in Grapetown. He bought large areas of land in 1848. Ranchers in Grapetown found it easy to sell their cattle in nearby Kerrville. They sold their cattle to a successful rancher named Charles Schreiner.
Grapetown During the Civil War
During the American Civil War, people in Gillespie County voted against Texas leaving the Union. In 1862, the Confederate States of America took control of Central Texas. Some people from nearby counties who supported the Union formed a secret group called the Union League.
Two Grapetown residents, August Hoffman and Heinrich Rausch, were part of a group of about sixty people who tried to escape to Mexico. They did not want to fight in the war. However, a Confederate group called Duff's Partisan Rangers chased them. The two groups met at the Nueces River. In a sad event known as the Nueces massacre, many people were killed. Some were even executed after being captured.
Hoffman and Rausch survived this terrible event. They hid in the hills with many others who also did not want to fight. In 1866, a monument called the Treue der Union Monument was built in Comfort. It honors the Texans who died at the Nueces massacre. This monument is special because it is the only one outside of national cemeteries on Confederate land that honors the Union. It is also one of only six places allowed to fly the United States flag at half-mast forever.
Grapetown School History
The first school in Grapetown started in Ferdinand Doebbler's home. Later, in 1882, Friedrich Baag gave land for a school building. He said that no political or religious events could be held there.
The school building was finished in 1884. It was a one-room building made of local limestone. Volunteers from local farms and ranches built it. By 1887, a house for the teacher was also built. In 1905, the school became Grapetown Line School, District No. 14. In 1949, this school district joined with the Rocky Hill School District. The Grapetown Community Club bought the old school building in 1950. They still use it today as a community center.
Post Office and Festivals
A post office was set up in Doebbler's Inn in 1885, with Wilhelm Hohenberger as the Post Master. However, the post office closed just a few years later in 1888.
In 1887, Grapetown combined its singing club (sängerbund) and shooting club (schützenbund). In 1895, Grapetown hosted the first annual Gillespie County Schützenfest. This is a German festival for marksmen, or skilled shooters. The Grapetown shooting club is still active today. They take part in the yearly Gillespie County Bundes Schützenfest and sometimes even host it. This county event includes crowning a "Schützenkönig" (shooting king), a parade, and a singing festival (Saengerfest).
The Railway Connection
In 1913, a railway company called the San Antonio, Fredericksburg and Northern Railway was formed. Its goal was to connect Fredericksburg with another railway near Waring. This new railway line would pass through Grapetown.
Building the railway was very difficult. They had to build a long tunnel, about 920 feet long, through a high ridge. This tunnel cost a lot of money, about $134,000. Because of this debt, the railway company went into financial trouble in 1914. The line was sold in 1917 to a new company called the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway. This train line operated until 1942.
