Luckenbach, Texas
Encyclopedia
Luckenbach is an unincorporated community
thirteen miles (19 km) from Fredericksburg
in southeastern Gillespie County
, Texas
, United States
, part of the Texas Hill Country
. It consists of 9.142 acres (36,996.4 m²) between South Grape Creek (a tributary of the Pedernales River
) and Snail Creek, just south of U.S. Highway 290 on the south side of Farm to Market Road 1376. This location is roughly 50 miles (80.5 km) north of San Antonio
and 69 miles (111 km) west of Austin
.
On December 15, 1847, a petition was submitted to create Gillespie County. In 1848, the legislature formed Gillespie County from Bexar
and Travis
counties. While the signers were overwhelmingly German immigrants, names also on the petition were Castillo, Pena, Munos, and a handful of non-German Anglo names.
Its oldest building is a combination general store
and saloon
reputedly opened in 1849 (1886 is more likely based on land improvement records of the state library) by Minna Engel, whose father was an itinerant preacher from Germany
. The community, first named Grape Creek, was later named after Minna's husband, Carl Albert Luckenbach
, who was then her fiancé; they would later move to another town which became Albert, Texas
. Luckenbach was first established as a community trading post and was one of the few that never broke a peace treaty with the Comanche
Indians, with whom they traded.
Citizens of the town claimed one of them (Jacob Brodbeck) had launched the first airplane years before the Wright Brothers
.
Its population increased to a high of 492 in 1904, but by the 1960s, Luckenbach was almost a ghost town
.
An ad in the paper offering "town — pop. 3 — for sale" led Hondo Crouch, rancher and Texas folklorist, to buy Luckenbach for $30,000 in 1970, in partnership with Kathy Morgan and actor Guich Koock. Hondo used the town's rights as a municipality to govern the dance hall as he saw fit.
began in the summer of 1973
, when Jerry Jeff Walker
, backed by the Lost Gonzo Band
, recorded a live album there called Viva Terlingua
at Luckenbach Dancehall. That album became an outlaw country
classic.
Four years later (and a year after Crouch's death), Waylon Jennings
and Willie Nelson
memorialized Luckenbach with the song "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)
," cowritten by rock and soul producer Chips Moman
and keyboardist Bobby Emmons. In his 2000 book Are You Ready for the Country?, author Peter Doggett recalls that Jennings later told audiences that "he hated the song and (had) admitted 'The guys that wrote the thing have never been to Luckenbach. Neither have I.'"
Notable concert appearances in the town include Waylon Jennings
, Willie Nelson
, Pat Green
, Robert Earl Keen
, and Lyle Lovett
. The little community is still an active home to country music as of 2010, where folks gather by the score to listen to area musicians and drink cold beer, particularly Shiner Bock, a local favorite brewed by the oldest brewer in Texas.
Country Rock artists Kenny Chesney
and Kid Rock
later covered the Jennings/Nelson song as a duet as the two performed earlier.
Luckenbach hosts a wide range of visitors each weekend, including bikers, bankers and everyone in between, with a separate area for motorcycle parking and car parking, usually in the grass. On Sundays, it is common for people to bring instruments and those in the crowd entertain each other, taking turns performing under the trees just outside the bar. There is a wide variety of Luckenbach-related shirts, bumper stickers and other novelties. No hard liquor is allowed, and no law enforcement is necessary as the crowd tends to self-police.
There are RV camping spots, and a small creek that runs nearby where the signs state "No Swimming Allowed". This is usually ignored and it is common to see parents there with their children. Areas are set up for pitching washers, which is similar in style to the game of horseshoe, except using a can buried in the ground and players toss large fender washers. Occasionally, local and regional celebrities drop by on a Sunday, as this is the most relaxed day to visit. There is no charge to visit.
A map or directions are needed to get to Luckenbach. The signs leading to the town are often stolen as souvenirs by tourists. Legitimate souvenirs are available at the general store and include postcards, t-shirts, sarcastic and humorous signs, and the local newspaper
, the 8-page monthly Luckenbach Moon.
Luckenbach was the setting for the short lived sit-com Lewis and Clark
, which co-starred town owner Guich Koock and Gabe Kaplan
.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
thirteen miles (19 km) from Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census estimate, the city had a population of 10, 530...
in southeastern Gillespie County
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...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, part of the Texas Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
. It consists of 9.142 acres (36,996.4 m²) between South Grape Creek (a tributary of the Pedernales River
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...
) and Snail Creek, just south of U.S. Highway 290 on the south side of Farm to Market Road 1376. This location is roughly 50 miles (80.5 km) north of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
and 69 miles (111 km) west of Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
On December 15, 1847, a petition was submitted to create Gillespie County. In 1848, the legislature formed Gillespie County from Bexar
Bexar County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,392,931 people, 488,942 households, and 345,681 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,117 people per square mile . There were 521,359 housing units at an average density of 418 per square mile...
and Travis
Travis County, Texas
As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...
counties. While the signers were overwhelmingly German immigrants, names also on the petition were Castillo, Pena, Munos, and a handful of non-German Anglo names.
Its oldest building is a combination general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
and saloon
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
reputedly opened in 1849 (1886 is more likely based on land improvement records of the state library) by Minna Engel, whose father was an itinerant preacher from 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...
. The community, first named Grape Creek, was later named after Minna's husband, Carl Albert Luckenbach
Albert Luckenbach
Carl Albert Luckenbach was the first postmaster of Luckenbach, Texas. He would later move to another village which would become known as Albert, Texas.-References:...
, who was then her fiancé; they would later move to another town which became Albert, Texas
Albert, Texas
Albert, originally Martinsburg, is a ghost town southeast of Fredericksburg and west of the Blanco County line in southeastern Gillespie County, Texas, United States...
. Luckenbach was first established as a community trading post and was one of the few that never broke a peace treaty with the Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
Indians, with whom they traded.
Citizens of the town claimed one of them (Jacob Brodbeck) had launched the first airplane years before the Wright Brothers
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
.
Its population increased to a high of 492 in 1904, but by the 1960s, Luckenbach was almost a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
.
An ad in the paper offering "town — pop. 3 — for sale" led Hondo Crouch, rancher and Texas folklorist, to buy Luckenbach for $30,000 in 1970, in partnership with Kathy Morgan and actor Guich Koock. Hondo used the town's rights as a municipality to govern the dance hall as he saw fit.
Modern Luckenbach
Today the town maintains a ghost town feel with its small population and strong western roots. One of its two main buildings houses the remnants of a post office, a working saloon, and a general store. The other is the dance hall. The post office was closed on April 30, 1971 and its zip code (78647) was retired.Country music
Luckenbach's association with country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
began in the summer of 1973
1973 in music
-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...
, when Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
, backed by the Lost Gonzo Band
Lost Gonzo Band
The Lost Gonzo Band was founded in 1973 and toured and recorded with many of Texas' most colorful musicians including Jerry Jeff Walker, Michael Martin Murphey, and Ray Wylie Hubbard. The original members of the band were, Bob Livingston, Gary P. Nunn, John Inmon, Kelly Dunn, Tomas Ramirez and...
, recorded a live album there called Viva Terlingua
Viva Terlingua
¡Viva Terlingua! is a live progressive country album by Jerry Jeff Walker and The Lost Gonzo Band recorded August 18, 1973 at the legendary Luckenbach Dancehall in Luckenbach, Texas and released later that year on MCA Nashville Records...
at Luckenbach Dancehall. That album became an outlaw country
Outlaw country
Outlaw country is a subgenre of country music, most popular during the late 1960s and the 1970s , sometimes referred to as the outlaw movement or simply outlaw music...
classic.
Four years later (and a year after Crouch's death), Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
and Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
memorialized Luckenbach with the song "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)
Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)
"Luckenbach, Texas " is a popular song sung by Waylon Jennings released in April 1977, at the height of outlaw country on the hit album Ol' Waylon...
," cowritten by rock and soul producer Chips Moman
Chips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
and keyboardist Bobby Emmons. In his 2000 book Are You Ready for the Country?, author Peter Doggett recalls that Jennings later told audiences that "he hated the song and (had) admitted 'The guys that wrote the thing have never been to Luckenbach. Neither have I.'"
Notable concert appearances in the town include Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Pat Green
Pat Green
Patrick Craven "Pat" Green is an American Texas Country artist. Active since 1995, he has recorded a total of ten studio albums, including several independent works, three for Republic Records and two for BNA...
, Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen
Robert Earl Keen, Junior is an American Texas Country singer-songwriter. He is popular with fans of traditional country music, folk music, college radio, and alt-country. Keen currently resides in Kerrville, Texas and maintains a ranch in Medina, Texas.-Early life:Growing up in Houston, Texas,...
, and Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
. The little community is still an active home to country music as of 2010, where folks gather by the score to listen to area musicians and drink cold beer, particularly Shiner Bock, a local favorite brewed by the oldest brewer in Texas.
Country Rock artists Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth "Kenny" Arnold Chesney is an American country music singer and songwriter. Chesney has recorded 15 albums, 14 of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than 30 Top Ten singles on the U.S...
and Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
later covered the Jennings/Nelson song as a duet as the two performed earlier.
Guinness World Record
"Pickin' for the Record" was a fundraiser held in Luckenbach on August 23, 2009, for the organization, Voices of a Grateful Nation. A Guinness Book of World Record was broken for the most guitar players gathered at one time to play (continuously, at least 5 minutes.) The Luckenbach record broke the standing German record by 50, with the official count at 1868. The day before the Texas event, Elvis Presley’s guitar player made a similar attempt in Louisiana and only signed up 800 pickers.Visiting
There are RV camping spots, and a small creek that runs nearby where the signs state "No Swimming Allowed". This is usually ignored and it is common to see parents there with their children. Areas are set up for pitching washers, which is similar in style to the game of horseshoe, except using a can buried in the ground and players toss large fender washers. Occasionally, local and regional celebrities drop by on a Sunday, as this is the most relaxed day to visit. There is no charge to visit.
A map or directions are needed to get to Luckenbach. The signs leading to the town are often stolen as souvenirs by tourists. Legitimate souvenirs are available at the general store and include postcards, t-shirts, sarcastic and humorous signs, and the local newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, the 8-page monthly Luckenbach Moon.
Luckenbach was the setting for the short lived sit-com Lewis and Clark
Lewis & Clark (TV series)
Lewis & Clark was a short-lived situation comedy that ran on NBC for one season from October 29, 1981 to July 30, 1982.-Plot:For a naive New Yorker, Stewart Lewis has a strange—some would say twisted—ambition: he wants to own a country-music club. His wife and kids hate the idea...
, which co-starred town owner Guich Koock and Gabe Kaplan
Gabe Kaplan
Gabriel W. "Gabe" Kaplan is an American comedian, actor, poker commentator, and professional poker player.He was born in Brooklyn, New York...
.
Notable people
- Colonel Alfred P.C. PetschAlfred P.C. PetschAlfred P. C. Petsch was a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives for the 85th District of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County. He was a retired Lieutenant Colonel who saw service in both World War I and World War II...
(1887-1981) Lawyer, legislator, civic leader, and philanthropist. Served in the Texas House of RepresentativesTexas House of RepresentativesThe Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
1925-1941. Veteran of both World War I and World War II. Born in Luckenbach.
See also
- Lower South Grape Creek SchoolLower South Grape Creek School, Gillespie County, TexasLower 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...
- Luckenbach SchoolLuckenbach School, Gillespie County, TexasLuckenbach School is located at 3566 Luckenbach Rd. in Gillespie County, Texas. In 1964, 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 1982, Marker number...
External links
- Official site for Luckenbach and the Luckenbach Dance Hall
- Texas town rooted in country music, a November 2004 CNN article (from web archives)
- Luckenbach, Texas lyrics