The History of Fredericksburg, Texas

On May 8, 1846 a train of ox carts carrying 120 pioneers reeled to a halt, four miles north of the upper Pedernales River in the Texas Hill Country, at a clear stream named Barons Creek to honor their leader, John O. Meusebach. Meusebach, who was two weeks short of his 34th birthday, had previously been known as Baron Otto von Meusebach in the duchy of Nassau. However, he had renounced his noble title and entered Texas proud to be a common man.

The whole company were Germans, and they had been on the road for 16 days. Starting from their principal town of New Braunfels, they had mostly followed the old Pinta Trail that ran northwest from San Antonio. Most were from the Rhine River valley in western Germany, and they felt peculiarly at home on the Pedernales, where the topography of clear streams trembling from limestone hills was much like home.

Meusebach was the new commissioner general of the Adelsverein, the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas, which has been founded in 1842 to sponsor German immigration into Texas' unsettled land. Between 1844 and 1847, at lead 7,000 arrived, only to learn their landing point was plagued by disease; their vast land grant lay hundreds of miles inland, and they were out of supples and money.

The immigrants suffered greatly, but their perseverance changed Texas and the Hill Country for generations to come.

John O. Meusebach was named El Sol Colorado (The Red Sun) by Penateka Comanche Chief Ketemoczy after their meeting near present-day Mason. The treated negotiations were completed March first through second, 1847, shortly before Easter. The Fredericksburg Easter Fires traditions commemorates the treaty and has been a significant cultural event since 1946.

in 1845, Meusebach selected a valley between Barons Creek and Town Creek, surrounded by seven hills, naming the settlement in honor of Prince Frederick of Prussia. Settlers received one town lot and ten acres of farmland. The first wagon train arrived on May 8, 1846. Gillespie county was formed in 1848. Louis (Ludwig) Martin became the county's first sheriff and alter district clerk.

Zodiac was a Mormon settlement established in 1947 on the Pedernales River, four miles southeast of Fredericksburg. The flooding in 1851 destroyed the mills, and the settlers relocated. No trace of the settlement remains today.

On July 1, 1850, soldiers from Fort Martin Scott burned down the Hunters Store in Fredericksburg after a dispute with County Clerk John M. Hunter.

From 1913 to 1942, the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway connected Fredericksburg to Waring. The city was incorporated in 1928. The 1961 visit of West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, hosted during Lyndon B. Johnson's vice presidency, brought international attention and helped grow tourism.

German immigrant families were given garland outside town and small dwellings within town limits, known as Sunday Houses. Many still remain and are preserved today.

Jacob Brodbeck, a German immigrant who settled in Fredericksburg, tested a self-powered "air ship" near Luckenbach in 1865. Though his attempt ended in a crash, he is remembered in Texas lore as the "Father of U.S. Aviation."

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area lies 18 miles north of Fredericksburg. People have camped in the area for over 12,000 years. It became a state natural area in 1978 and is listed as a National Natural Landmark.

The original Vereins-Kirche was Fredericksburg's first public building, serving as a church, school, town hall, and fortress. A replica was build in 1936 and stands today in Marktplatz.

Fredericksburg was largely pro-Union during the Civil War, though some residents supported the Confederacy. The community faced instability during and after the war years.