Pedernales, Texas was an early settlement of German immigrants in
Gillespie County
Gillespie County is a County (United States), county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 26,725. The county seat is Fredericksburg, Texas, Fredericksburg ...
, and was part of the
Adelsverein
The ''Mainzer Adelsverein at Biebrich am Rhein'' (''Verein zum Schutze Deutscher Einwanderer in Texas'', "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas"), better known as the ''Mainzer Adelsverein'' (, "Nobility Society of Mainz"), orga ...
colonization of Texas. No trace of the settlement remains today. It was located southwest of
Fredericksburg near what is now
Texas State Highway 16
State Highway 16 (SH 16) is a south–north state highway in the U.S. state of Texas that runs from Zapata on the boundary with Mexico to U.S. Highway 281 south of Wichita Falls. It is the longest state highway in Texas at almost , but is o ...
. The Pedernales school received a Texas Historical Commission Subject Marker in 1993, Marker number 10095.
Establishment
In 1846,
Wilhelm Victor Keidel moved to
Fredericksburg, becoming Gillespie County's first physician, and in 1848 the county's first Chief Justice. He was one of the individuals who signed the petition to create Gillespie County on December 15, 1847.
Keidel relocated southwest of Fredericksburg to the banks of the
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. The name "Pede ...
and founded a settlement he named Pedernales. For any settlers who would relocate with him to the settlement, he agreed to give them free medical care. Keidel became the first leader of the community. Among the other early residents were photographer and landscape artist
Hermann Lungkwitz
Hermann Lungkwitz (1813–1891) was a 19th-century German-born Texas romantic landscape artist and photographer whose work became the first pictorial record of the Texas Hill Country.
Early life
Karl Friedrich Hermann Lungkwitz was born on Marc ...
and his brother-in-law and fellow painter
Friedrich Richard Petri
Friedrich Richard Petri (1824–1857) was a German-born Texas painter whose works recorded life in the original German immigrant settlements, and portrayed Native American tribes in family settings.
Early life
Friedrich Richard Petri was born on ...
. After the
Bettina
Bettina is a female name predominantly found in the Italian and German languages. This name has various interpreted meanings and origins.
In Italian, Bettina originated as a diminutive of the names Elisabetta and Benedetta. Benedetta is the Ita ...
community failed circa 1848,
Jacob Kuechler
Jacob Kuechler (1823–1893) was surveyor, conscientious objector during the Civil War, and commissioner of the Texas General Land Office. Kuechler pioneered the science of Dendrochronology to date natural events.
Early life and education
Jacob ...
and his wife Marie Petri Kuechler moved to Pedernales, to join the family business. By 1850 the settlement had 44 residents of German descent.
Pedernales school
On September 11, 1854, Keidel hosted a meeting to plan Live Oak School and was elected trustee. A decade later, Pedernales had its own school district, along with two stores and a cotton gin. The school supported grades 1 through 7, all taught by one teacher. The schoolhouse was of native limestone. Community activities centered on the school, and year-end exams were called "schulpruefung", followed by a celebratory picnic. Private tuition and the state of Texas funded the school. Enrollment dipped during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and the Pedernales school was consolidated in 1949 with the
Wrede School, closer to Fredericksburg. The original school is now a private home, and nothing else remains of the settlement.
Further reading
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References
External links
The Friends of Gillespie County Country Schools
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedernales
Geography of Gillespie County, Texas
German-American culture in Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
German-American history
Ghost towns in Central Texas
Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks