Frelsburg is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Colorado County Colorado County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,557. Its county seat is Columbus. It is named for the Colorado River of Texas. The county was founded in 1836 and organized the next ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. According to the

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

, the community had a population of 75 in 2000.

History

Capt. William Frels and his brother John, who arrived in Texas in 1834 on the ship ''Congress'' from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, founded the settlement sometime around 1837. After the country gained its freedom, Captain Frels, who had served in the revolutionary army, gave the land for the townsite, a

parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, pa ...

, a Protestant church, and a cemetery. Germans from the region surrounding

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

and

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

made up the first settlers. The population had grown to the point where a post office was needed by 1847, and a Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church was established by recent

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

immigrants. Community life exhibited the influence of the Texas frontier as well as the German heritage, sustained by an economy centered on small farms akin to those in Germany. The town boasted a

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); ...

, a few stores, and several service industry members, including harnessmakers and

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s, by 1852. Following the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, Frelsburg's economy flourished, and a large portion of the surrounding land was used to grow

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

. Farmers in the area attribute the creation of the first mechanized cotton distributor and cleaner for gins to Frank Walls, Sr. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad subsequently passed through Columbus several miles to the north. In the 1870s, the main line of the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway traveled through Columbus. With an estimated 300 residents, Frelsburg boasted five cotton gins, four

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

s, three churches, and a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

in 1884. Through the first half of the 1900s, Frelsburg remained rich even after being bypassed by the railroads. In 1908, the post office there closed. The majority of the small farms in the area switched to raising beef cattle after the 1950s. When the nearby Frelsburg gas field was discovered, more land was taken out of crop cultivation, and absentee ownership was encouraged. From 1933 until 2000, Frelsburg's population was recorded as 75. It was described as a German

freethinking Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

community.

Geography

Frelsburg is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 109 and

1291 Year 1291 ( MCCXCI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * August 1 – Federal Charter of 1291: The "three forest cantons" ('' Waldstätte'') of Switzerland (Schwyz, Uri and Unt ...

, north of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

and east of Fayetteville in the northern corner of Colorado County.

Education

Captain Frels donated land for a school after the state's independence. The state selected Frelsburg as the location for Hermann University in 1870, but after the structure was completed, there weren't enough supporters to support the institution. As a result, the building was sold to the nearby school district. Today, the community is served by the

Columbus Independent School District Columbus Independent School District is a public school district based in Columbus, Texas ( USA). Columbus ISD serves the northern portion of Colorado County, including the city of Columbus and the communities of Frelsburg and Rock Island as ...

. Sister Louise Feltin sent sisters from her Catholic organization to open a school in Frelsburg in 1871.

Gallery

File:Frelsburg TX Catholic Marker.jpg, Texas State Historical Marker at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church File:Frelsburg TX Trinity Lutheran Marker.jpg, Texas State Historical Marker at Trinity Lutheran Church File:Frelsburg TX Trinity Lutheran Cemetery.jpg, Texas State Historical Marker at Trinity Lutheran Cemetery File:Frelsburg TX Heinsohns Store.jpg, Heinsohn's Country Store at FM 109 and FM 1291 File:Frelsburg TX Trinity Lutheran.jpg, Trinity Lutheran Church in Frelsburg File:Frelsburg TX Catholic Church.jpg, Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Frelsburg, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Colorado County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas