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Lower South Grape Creek School (Gillespie County, Texas)

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Coordinates: 30°13′29″N 98°43′41″W / 30.22472°N 98.72806°W / 30.22472; -98.72806
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Lower South Grape Creek School
Lower South Grape Creek School
Lower South Grape Creek School is located in Texas
Lower South Grape Creek School
Lower South Grape Creek School
Lower South Grape Creek School is located in the United States
Lower South Grape Creek School
Lower South Grape Creek School
Nearest cityFredericksburg, Texas
Coordinates30°13′29″N 98°43′41″W / 30.22472°N 98.72806°W / 30.22472; -98.72806
Area1.1 acres (0.45 ha)
Built1901 (1901)
NRHP reference No.05000391[1]
RTHL No.10073
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 6, 2005
Designated RTHL1994

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.

Community background

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Luckenbach 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.[2][3] 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.[4][5][6] William Luckenbach was the first postmaster of South Grape Creek, which was eventually discontinued in 1869.[7] 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

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The first school house at South Grape Creek was a log construction built on 1.33 acres (0.01 km2; 0.00 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.[8]

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.[9] Lower South Grape Creek School was added to the National Register of Historic Places in Texas on May 6, 2005.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "Brig Johann Dethardt". Gillespie County Historical Society. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  3. ^ Pioneers in God's Hills (1960), P.248
  4. ^ "Naturalization Records". Fredericksburg Historical Society. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  5. ^ Perry, Garland. "Jacob Luckenbach". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  6. ^ Lich, Glen E; Schnaut, Brandy. "Luckenbach, Texas". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  7. ^ "South Grape Creek Postmasters". Jim Wheat. Retrieved 6 February 2011.Jim Wheat
  8. ^ "HIstory Lower South Grape Creek School". Friends of Gillespie County Country Schools. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  9. ^ "THC Lower South Grape Creek School". Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
  10. ^ "NRHP-Lower South Grape Creek School". U.S. Dept. of Interior, the National Park Service. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

Further reading

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  • Pioneers in God's Hills. Gillespie County Historical Society. 1960.
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