Fredericksburg, Texas has long been on our list of places to visit. Everyone we know has been there and they all agree, it's worth the visit.
One thing I find about the small towns in Texas that we visit is that they all want to preserve their history. And Fredericksburg is no exception. They have tons of homes from early settlers as well as an entire museum to give you the history of the town.
This particular house was built in 1845. It's at 511 Main Street in Fredericksburg. Wouldn't I love to go into this house? It's one or two rooms on the bottom floor. The stairs go to the attic where everyone slept. It's private property but it's typical of the type of house that was built at the time that Fredericksburg was settled. Here's what happened.
In rural Germany, things were bad. Crops were failing, bad political climate - this was in the 1840s. So a group of people got together and called themselves Adelsverein and they bought a huge plot of land in the Republic of Texas for the purposes of setting up a German colony. People started coming! But as they began arriving in Galveston and then on to Indianola, the supplies they were promised were absorbed by the US Army due to the start of the Mexican American War. It was a mess. People were stranded and supplies were low.
Finally, this guy named John Meusebach took over. He scouted the land and started bringing people to Fredericksburg in 1845. This is the Vereins-Kirche, one of the first buildings erected in their new town of Fredericksburg, which was named for Prince Friederich of Prussia. This isn't the original building. That one was built in the middle of Main Street and was eventually torn down. Fifty years later, feeling remorseful about the tear down, a replica was built well off the main street. It's part of the Pioneer Museum.
Most of the settlers were farmers or ranchers. But all the churches and shops were "in town". So a lot of families built what they called Sunday Houses.
These were one room homes where the family would stay overnight while they came in town to go to church, get supplies, and socialize. This house belonged to the August Weber family. August was a farmer who was born in Fredericksburg. The house was moved here to the Pioneer Museum in 1972.
The Kammlah Store from the front. The Kammlah homestead included this store, their house, a smokehouse and a barn. It's the basis of the Pioneer Museum. Several generations of Kammlahs lived here over the years. They were one of the founding settlers. The museum is awesome. There are several other buildings that were moved here, like the Schoolhouse from White Oak Community, and an old bathhouse/barbershop. But what's cool about it is that each of these buildings belonged to a family and the museum tells you about the family and the building.
This is the Gillespie County Courthouse. Well, it was back in 1882. Inside, there's a central hallway that runs north and south with two staircases that lead up to the second floor. Upstairs was one large courtroom with a jury room in the corner. It was designed by San Antonio architect Albert Giles who also designed two other buildings here in Fredericksburg. In 1966, this became the Pioneer Memorial Library. I'm so glad they didn't tear it down!
In 1939, this more "modern" building was erected and became the new Gillespie County Courthouse. Personally, I prefer the earlier version.
As I mentioned before, Fredericksburg has many historic buildings. So many that there's a whole book about them.
A Guide to the Historic Buildings of Fredericksburg and Gillespie County by Kenneth Hafertepe. It gives you the history about the majority of buildings in town, including this one. This was the general store built for John Schandua in 1898. The controversy was that John engaged the Masons to help him with the understanding that the top floor would be a place for them to meet. Schandua was Catholic and couldn't join the Masons without being excommunicated.
Most of the Germans that came over were either Lutheran or Catholic and for a long time, they shared the Verein Kirche on alternating weekends to have their services. The Catholics were the first to build their own church. The first Marienkirche, or St. Mary's Church, was built in 1848 by Peter Schandua (brother of John from the shop above). This church was built in 1860. When it was replaced in 1906, this church became part of St. Mary's Catholic School.
Right next door to Marienkirche is the new St. Mary's Catholic Church. As mentioned above, it was built in 1906 and is still going.
Another of the very interesting buildings in Fredericksburg is the old Gillespie County Jail. It was built in 1855 and sits on the street behind (but within walking distance) to the Courthouse. When the new courthouse was built in 1882, they people decided on a new jail as well. Of course, the fact that there was a fire in the old jail where a prisoner was killed probably helped that decision. There were four rooms downstairs which included three for the Sheriff and one as a lockup and then jail cells on the top floor. I can't imagine what it would be like living there as wife of the Sheriff with bars on the windows. They give tours of the jail but only on the first Saturday of the month.
In 1855, there was a small hotel on this site when it was purchased by Charles and Sophie Nimitz. After they added on, the hotel had ten guestrooms, a dining room, a ballroom and a nicely finished parlor. Charles and Sophie were the grandparents of Admiral Chester Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet during World War II. When Charles died, the hotel was sold in 1926. If finally closed in 1963. The next year the building was acquired by the Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Naval Museum, Inc who wanted to honor the native son. It is now part of the National Museum of the Pacific War. It's devoted to Chester Nimitz, his history and his role in the war.
Right around the corner from the Nimitz Hotel is the main building of the National Museum of the Pacific War. This portion of the museum tells the story of the war in the pacific in its entirety and is very well done. If you plan on going and you want to see the whole thing, get there when it opens at 9 and plan to stay the whole day. You can come and go with your ticket.
Inside they have short videos that tell about different battles, various planes and even a Japanese submarine! This is a plane is an FM-2 Wildcat that was built by General Motors and was used in the first 18 months of the war. It was flown from the airfield taken from the Japanese by the US Marines in Guadacanal.
The third part of the museum, also within walking distance, is called the Combat Zone. Here they have demonstrations including battlefield reenactments and weapons and equipment demonstrations. There's a hanger that has a plane that was used during the war along with its history.
Also in the combat zone is an exhibit about the PT boats. They have acquired and restored PT 309 and it's on display here.
The last part of the museum is outdoors. It's a walkway between the Nimitz Hotel and the actual gallery. It has plaques dedicated to various people, ships, platoons, etc. It's very peaceful and humbling to walk through here.
We enjoyed our visit to Fredericksburg. Only about 11K people live here but it's bigger than it seems. They have an awesome H-E-B and a Walmart. They have your standard fast food joints, though no chain restaurants that I saw. When it comes to Bed and Breakfasts, you have a really nice selection. There are hotels as well but mind when you go. The weekends are expensive. Tourism is big here. Main Street is cluttered with cool shops, bars and restaurants along with old historic buildings. I love that they have preserved their history and repurposed buildings instead of tearing them down.
It's definitely worth the visit. If you're in the area or need a little weekend getaway, check it out!
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