Lower South Grape Creek School, Gillespie County, Texas
Encyclopedia
Lower South Grape Creek School is located at 10273 E U.S. Highway 290 in Gillespie County, Texas
. In 1960, the school was consolidated with Fredericksburg Independent School District
. The building is now used as a community center. The school was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
in 1994, Marker number 10073. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in Texas on May 6, 2005.
was settled on the Pedernales
tributary of Grape Creek by German colonists such as the Luckenbach family, who arrived in Texas from Stein-Wingert
, Germany
, aboard the Brig Johann Dethardt January 12, 1846. They were among the first wave of colonists to Fredericksburg in 1846. In 1852, the Luckenbachs moved southeast to the area that came to bear the family name, and became naturalized citizens. William Luckenbach was the first postmaster of South Grape Creek, which was eventually discontinued in 1869. Other early colonists in the area along South Grape Creek were John M. Hunter, Wlihelm Feller and Peter Burg, who were among the petitioners to create Gillespie County, as well as Eramus Frantzen, L.F. Toepperwein, Friedrich Scharnhorst, John Blank, G.J. Weber, and Ferdinand Gellermann.
In 1901, a new one-room building was erected out of native limestone, on an acre of land bought for $5 from Charles and Martha Ahrens, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north on U.S. Highway 290 (then known as the Austin Highway). The original structure had a pyramidal roof, with a chimney, tin roof and bell tower. Capital improvements in later years included a concrete slab porch large enough on which to perform school plays, electricity, and indoor plumbing.
Due to sagging enrollment, the school was consolidated with the Fredericksburg Independent School District in 1960. Designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
in 1994, Marker number 10073. Lower South Grape Creek School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in Texas on May 6, 2005.
Gillespie County, Texas
Gillespie County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 24,837. It is located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Gillespie is named for Robert Addison Gillespie, who came to Texas in 1837. He was a Texas Ranger, an Indian fighter, a...
. In 1960, the school was consolidated with Fredericksburg Independent School District
Fredericksburg Independent School District
Fredericksburg Independent School District is a public school district based in Fredericksburg, Texas .In addition to Fredericksburg, the district serves the unincorporated communities of Stonewall, Luckenbach, Willow City, and Albert...
. The building is now used as a community center. The school was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the state of Texas....
in 1994, Marker number 10073. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in Texas on May 6, 2005.
Community background
LuckenbachLuckenbach, Texas
Luckenbach is an unincorporated community thirteen miles from Fredericksburg in southeastern Gillespie County, Texas, United States, part of the Texas Hill Country. It consists of between South Grape Creek and Snail Creek, just south of U.S. Highway 290 on the south side of Farm to Market Road...
was settled on the Pedernales
Pedernales River
The Pedernales River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in central Texas in the United States. It drains an area of the Edwards Plateau, flowing west to east across the Texas Hill Country west of Austin...
tributary of Grape Creek by German colonists such as the Luckenbach family, who arrived in Texas from Stein-Wingert
Stein-Wingert
Stein-Wingert is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, aboard the Brig Johann Dethardt January 12, 1846. They were among the first wave of colonists to Fredericksburg in 1846. In 1852, the Luckenbachs moved southeast to the area that came to bear the family name, and became naturalized citizens. William Luckenbach was the first postmaster of South Grape Creek, which was eventually discontinued in 1869. Other early colonists in the area along South Grape Creek were John M. Hunter, Wlihelm Feller and Peter Burg, who were among the petitioners to create Gillespie County, as well as Eramus Frantzen, L.F. Toepperwein, Friedrich Scharnhorst, John Blank, G.J. Weber, and Ferdinand Gellermann.
School
The first school house at South Grape Creek was a log construction built on 1.33 acre (0.0053823238 km²; 0.00207812683742398 sq mi) of land purchased by the Luckenbach trustees from widow Juliane Wehmeyer in 1871 for $50. The South Grape School District was part of the Luckenbach School Precinct No. 3, which covered Luckenbach, Grapetown, South Grape Creek, and Grape Hill. On May 12, 1889, the school on South Grape Creek was named Lower South Grape Creek School, District #21, because the Grapetown school was named Upper South Grape Creek School. Theodor Huelsemann was the first teacher and taught the Lower South Grape Creek school until 1880.In 1901, a new one-room building was erected out of native limestone, on an acre of land bought for $5 from Charles and Martha Ahrens, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north on U.S. Highway 290 (then known as the Austin Highway). The original structure had a pyramidal roof, with a chimney, tin roof and bell tower. Capital improvements in later years included a concrete slab porch large enough on which to perform school plays, electricity, and indoor plumbing.
Due to sagging enrollment, the school was consolidated with the Fredericksburg Independent School District in 1960. Designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the state of Texas....
in 1994, Marker number 10073. Lower South Grape Creek School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in Texas on May 6, 2005.