Prairie Valley is located on Prairie Valley Road, just north of Highway 77 between West Point and Plum. This small community settled by Germans once had a school, but now all that remains is St. Peter Lutheran church and its cemetery.
From The Handbook of Texas Online:Park is at the southern end of County Road 196 on the northeastern shore of Cedar Creek Reservoir (Lake Fayette) in eastern Fayette County. It was established during the early 1860s and named for the park-like appearance of the oak grove in which it was located. It served as a cultural and trade center for the small farms on the slopes between Baylor and Cedar creeks. Because of the proximity of other trade centers, it never grew beyond a few stores, a dance hall, and a population of fifty, which it still reported in 1940. When the lake was constructed to provide cooling water for the coal-generated Fayette Power Project of the Lower Colorado River Authority, it flooded most of the neighboring farmland and left the grove, one business, and the dance hall on a peninsula. During the 1980s the LCRA and the city of Austin cooperated in building boat-launching facilities and extensive parking areas at the edge of the lake; thousands of fishermen and boaters avail themselves of the facility each year. In 1990 the population of Park was reported as twenty-two.
From Historical Sites and Communities:Pisek, the Czech word for "sand," was located in Colorado county where the present settlement of Lone Oak is today. Before 1900, it had a Post Office, two stores, a blacksmith shop and a dance hall. The town moved [a few miles, into Fayette County] when the railroad was built nearby, but unlike others, retained its name. A minor rail yard was built, with a hotel for the rail employees. When the railroad closed the yard, the town returned to it's previous location but was named Lone Oak.
From Fayette County, Texas Web Site:
Pisek was located near the Fayette and Colorado County lines and was located where the railroad ended and turned around. Mike Krenek had a store here, and the railroad had a hotel for its employees.
See map of Plum and related links.
See history, photos and other information about Praha.
See a brief history of Rabb's Prairie.
From The Handbook of Texas Online:Rek (Reks) Hill is on State Highway 159 fourteen miles east of La Grange and four miles northeast of Fayetteville in eastern Fayette County. The community, named for the Reks family who settled in the area, had a church, a school, two businesses, and scattered dwellings in 1940. The school had consolidated with Fayetteville by the 1950s. In 1981 Rek Hill comprised three businesses, a church, and a cemetery.
From Fayette County, Texas Web Site:
Rocky Ridge is located between Muldoon and West Point on FM Road 154. It was named for the rocky terrain of the area.
See a history, photographs, and related links for Ross Prairie.
See old photographs, historical markers, town map, and a history of Round Top.
Text of historical marker erected on FM 159 at Rutersville in 1972:RUTERSVILLEFrom Fayette County, Her History and Her People by F. Lotto, 1902:Founded in 1838 upon the recommendation of Dr. Martin Ruter (1785-1838), as a site for an institution of higher learning. Named in honor of Dr. Ruter, a pioneer Methodist missionary who entered Texas on Nov. 21, 1837 and weakened by his travels, died on May 16, 1838. Later in the year of his death, a company of ten Methodists bought a tract of Land, platted the townsite, and began to build Rutersville. In 1840, Rutersville College was chartered by the fourth Congress of the Republic of Texas as the Republic's first Protestant college. The legislation specified the school should not be exclusively for the benefit of Methodists, and it was patronized by families of various faiths. Rutersville students were noted for their loyalty to neighbors, sometimes spending days away from class, pursuing Indians. The Rev. Chauncey Richardson, A. M. (1802-1852), whose grave is nearby, was first president of the college. The campus was half a mile southeast of this marker. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the original inhabitants of Rutersville sold their property. It was later purchased by German immigrants, whose descendants now live here in large numbers.
Rutersville lies about six miles northeast of La Grange in the fertile Rutersville prairie, hog wallow land, near the banks of Rocky Creek. it is located on the Franklin Lewis league. Rutersville is an old historic place. In the early days it was a competitor for the capital of the Republic of Texas. At that time there was a military school owned by the state under the management of Prof. Forshea and a female college under the management of Supt. Thrall at Rutersville. On account of these schools, the town was a local option precinct. These schools were closed during the Civil War and not reopened thereafter. A stock company bought the college and sold it to the Lutheran congregation; they sold it to the Methodists, who for a long time used it for a school.Rutersville consists of a store, a saloon, a gin and a blacksmith and wheelwright shop. It is a voting place of the county and a postoffice. Mr. G. D. Wessels is the owner of a fine hall for dancing, the best in the county. he also is the owner of a first-class saloon.
The Rutersville country was settled by Americans and Germans, but now the country is almost entirely German with a sprinkling of Bohemians. Old settlers: C. Amberg, sr. (deceased), Geo. Mauer, B. W. Hobson (deceased), F. Luecke, W. Hancord, the Mohrhusens, H. Harms, Carl Schulz, R. Pohl, L. Struve, Joe Brendel.
Related Links
Rutersville College Cemetery
Rutersville Cemetery
Caleb Forshey
Trustees, Faculty & Students at Rutersville College in 1841
History of St. John Lutheran Church, Rutersville
Herman Amberg
William Voelkel
Gerhard D. Wessels
John Henry WesselsRelated articles at the Handbook of Texas Online:
Rutersville, Texas
Rutersville College
Texas Monumental and Military Institute
Chauncey Richardson
Asa Hill
St. John is on Farm Road 957 four miles southwest of Schulenburg at the southern boundary of Fayette County. It had a saloon and store combination and a cotton gin built around the Catholic church which served the local German and Czech farmers. Both the church and the community were dedicated on June 24, 1894, the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Cotton farming in St. John stopped during the 1960s, and the gin was dismantled. Mail was delivered from Schulenburg, where St. John children attended school. In 1987 a restaurant, a filling station, a welding shop, and the St. John Church remained to serve an area of farms and ranches devoted primarily to the production of cattle and hay, on gently rolling lands overlooking the West Fork of the Navidad River.
Related Link
See St. John Catholic Cemetery
See historical markers, a town map, old photos, and a history of Schulenburg.
From Historical Sites & Communities booklet:Scott, now a memory, was the only school between Flatonia and Moulton in the 1880s. This community was located just south of Flatonia and was named for a local family who kept many slaves.
Scott's School, 1932
Top Row: Norman Jones (5th from left), Beatrice "Batchie" Jones (6th from left)
2nd Row: Eula Mae Jones (5th from left)
Bottom Row: Elmer Dee Jones (6th from left, Hal Jones (10th from left)Photo provided by Johny W. Jones. Click on photo to see larger view. Do you recognize anyone?
From Historical Sites & Communities booklet:
Sedan was located east of Dubina and at one time had a school.
Related Link
From Fayette County, Her History and Her People by F. Lotto, 1902:Stella lies about eight miles southwest of West Point. It is a post office and a voting precinct and consists of one store. The surrounding country is postoak. The population is American.From Historical Sites & Communities booklet:Stella, now a memory, disappeared when the railroad came to Muldoon. At one time this community had a store, blacksmith shop and gin.
Related article at the Handbook of Texas Online
Stella, Texas
From Fayette County, Her History and Her People by F. Lotto, 1902:Swiss Alp is one of the most picturesque and fertile sections of the county. The rolling prairie is studded with elegant residences surrounded by gardens and trees. The blackland is very rich and productive; the population well-to-do, substantial farmers; they are progressive Germans. It is a comparatively new country, situated on the Fayette county school lands, about eleven miles from La Grange and seven miles from Schulenburg. it is a voting precinct of the county and a postoffice. Geo. Vogt and Chas. Bruns are popular young merchants of Swiss Alp; L. C. Melcher, the proprietor of one of the finest gins in the county. There is also a blacksmith shop. It was settled in the seventies. Among the first settlers are Chris Steinmann, A. Franke and Mrs. Auguste Bolling. At Swiss Alp there are large bone deposits, found especially in Mr. Knigge's pasture. They have been described by Mr. L. C. Melcher in his essay on minerals of the county.
Gerhard Meyer Family
Standing: Fritz & Sophie (children of Gerhard's first wife) and Hertha Meyer
Seated: Martha, Gerhard, C. William and Margarethe (nee Harms) MeyerGerhard Meyer Home
Meyer photos contributed by Mike Gohlke
William Meyer
William Meyer during WWI
Daughters of Gerhard Meyer
Hertha
Maggie
Charles Bauch & Martha Meyer (1903)
Related articles at the Fayette County TXGenWeb site
Swiss Alp Church
Swiss Alp Lutheran Cemetery
Zion Lutheran CemeteryRelated article at the Handbook of Texas Online
Swiss Alp, Texas
Toledo was located north of Black Jack Springs and had a post office from 1873 - 1877 with J. H. Baker as postmaster.
See a full web page of history, photos, links and more about Waldeck.
From Fayette County, Her History and Her People by F. Lotto, 1902:Walhalla lies fourteen miles in a northerly direction from La Grange. It is situated in Cottonwood prairie, fertile blackland. It is a post-office and a voting precinct of the county, and consists of a store, a saloon and a blacksmith shop. A physician resides there. The population is German. Old settlers: William Koepke, Gerhard Imken, John H. Bluhme, Geo. Oetken, sr., Hon. J. C. Speckels, Hy Alhorn, Chas. Meinhold, Carl Sump, Carl Schubert, Louis Heller, Tom Heller, Dick Meinen and L. F. Tiemann.From Historical Sites & Communities:
Walhalla is a German community named after a German word for "heaven." Its rise and slow demise was tied to Waldeck. The community is located on FM 1291 about 2 miles north of State Highway 237....
Related Links
See photos of Fredrich Schuhmann House (1855) moved to Henkel Square in Round Top.
Related article at the Handbook of Texas Online:
Walhalla, Texas
Warda
See a history of Warda.Warrenton
See photos, related links and a history of Warrenton.West Point
From Fayette County, Her History and Her People by F. Lotto, 1902:West Point lies on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad and the Waco branch of the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway, about twelve miles from La Grange. The section from which West Point draws its main trade is the rich fertile Colorado bottom, deep alluvial soil. The town consists of three stores, one drug store, two physicians, three hotels, two blacksmith shops, two cotton gins, one molasses press owned by Mr. House who turns out a superior molasses known over the county, and one cannery. The latter is owned by a stock company of enterprising citizens and was completed this year at a cost of $6500. The rich surrounding country has various kinds of soil, mostly rich loam beds. It is very favorable to the raising of fruits and vegetables. West Point deserves the credit of starting the industry which (the conditions warrant the belief) promises to become a success. Other sections of the county may follow the example set, quite increasing thereby the income of the farmer and making him independent of the staple article, cotton.S. A. Shelburne, a native of Austin County, has been for the last nine years in the general merchandise business at West Point and is the leading merchant of that place. F. J. Johnson is the postmaster at West Point, a druggist and a grocer. Mr. Shelburne is a leading democrat and Mr. Johnson a leading republican. O. L. Lee is the proprietor of a first class saloon and keeps the purest and best brands of whiskies. Dr. M. E. Clary is a resident physician of West Point. He has practiced there since 1891, is a fine physician and is regarded as such by the people and by his colleagues.
There are two churches in West Point, a Baptist Church, Rev. W. M. Daniels, pastor, and a Methodist Church, Rev. J. J. Calloway, pastor.
The first settlers in the West Point settlement arrived about the year 1840. The town is located on land that formerly belonged to Bill Young. It is a postoffice since 1872. The population is American with a few Germans among them. Prominent settlers: J. Darby, C. W. Moore, J. L. House, A. W. Young (deceased), T. C. Moore (deceased), W. A. Young (deceased), J. H. Baker, Seth Green, F. J. Johnson and others.
Luberta (Lula) Johnson Grant
30 May 1875 - 15 Dec 1973Daughter of James (Jim) and Melinda Powell Johnson
Photo contributed by San K. MarshallJerry Grant
born 27 Feb 1872Son of Warren Grant; married Luberta Johnson
Photo contributed by San K. MarshallRufus Grant
Jerry Grant's uncle.
Photo contributed by San K. MarshallRelated Links at Fayette County TXGenWeb Site
Byler Cemetery
Plum Grove Black Cemetery
Plum Grove CemeteryWood's Prairie Cemetery
Mt. Olive African Methodist-Episcopal CemeteryRelated articles at the Handbook of Texas Online
West Point, Texas
Thomas C. Moore
Zadock WoodsWillow Springs
See a history and old photographs of Willow Springs.Winchester
See a map and history of Winchester.Winedale
Text from The Handbook of Texas Online:Winedale was located in far northeastern Fayette County four miles northeast of Round Top. The original community began around 1870 as a German settlement named Truebsal, which grew up just across the line in Washington County near the store of Charles Windewehen. The community eventually included a church and a nearby gin. In 1879, sometime after local farmers began cultivating grapes, a post office was granted with the name Winedale. It closed in 1881, and it is not clear precisely when the town moved some two miles down the road to its location in Fayette County. The new site centered around an inn known as Sam Lewis's Stopping Place on the Sawyer and Risher stage line from Brenham to Austin. Samuel K. Lewis purchased the original 145-acre William Townsend homestead from Capt. John York in 1848, added an adjoining tract of 640 farm acres, and expanded the one-room house to make it suitable for an inn, more than doubling its size and converting the loft into a second story. By the twentieth century the town had ceased to exist. The Lewis home and farm, however, became the centerpiece for the development of the Winedale Historical Center beginning in the 1960s.
Historical Marker
Winedale Stagecoach Inn
From Round Top take FM 1457 W about 2.5 miles then go NW on FM 2714 1/2 miles.
Built by William S. Townsend about 1834. Of cedar timbers– one large room, fireplace and loft for sleeping quarters. Purchased in 1848 by Samuel K. Lewis; enlarged to present form. Became known as "Sam Lewis' stopping place" for many years. Restored by Miss Ima Hogg, 1964. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967.
Photo contributed by Marion and Steve Daughtry
Related Links
Winedale
A Division of the University of Texas Center for American HistoryPortraits of Joseph and Maria Wagner, ca. 1880s
Joseph Wagner Family on porch of their home, ca. 1890s
Photo of Joseph George Wagner Family Band, Winedale (Fayette Co.), Texas, ca. 1890.
Wagner House decorative art by Ruldolph Melchior, ca. 1850s
Winedale Photograph Collection, University of Texas Center for American HistoryWood's Fort
Text from Historical Marker erected in 1936 at a location 1.5 miles west of West Point on State Highway 71 at its junction with County Road 117:
Site of Wood's Fort
Used by colonists of this vicinity as a protection against Indian attacks. 1828-1842 fortified residence of Zadock Woods, veteran of the War of 1812. One of the old "Three Hundred" of Austin's colonists. Oldest man killed in the "Dawson Massacre" September 18, 1842.
There was also another historical marker at this site, but it was stolen in 1986 according to information in the Fayette Heritage Museum & Archives. Here is the text of that marker:
The First Roadside Park in Texas
Established fall 1933, when a local state highway official built tables and benches (since then replaced ) here to encourage motorists to stop and rest. Texas was one of the first states to sponsor building of roadside parks, which provided work for many of the unemployed during the 1930's depression. Early highway beautification efforts also started here. Today areas along Texas highways are noted for their landscaping and abundance of native wildflowers. Texas roadside parks, many of which have restrooms and cook-out areas, totaled 1,008 in 1967. [1968]
Wood's Fort, 1909
This photo of what remained of Woods Fort in 1909 pictures, from left to right, Middie Darby Moore, James W. Moore, "Uncle Alf" Darby, Lucius Campbell, "Aunt Carrie" Darby holding infant Darby Moore, and Sue Moore.
Alf and Carrie Darby were former slaves of D. A. Darby. The children's parents were Middie and James Moore. Lucius Campbell was James W. Moore's uncle. The saddled horse was named "Charlie." The house burned in 1923.
Photo contributed by Ben E. Kozlovsky, Sr.
Related Link at Fayette County TXGenWeb Site:
Wood's Prairie CemeteryZapalac
From The Handbook of Texas Online:Zapalac was an unincorporated farming community with indefinite boundaries on State Highway 71 between Halstead and Ellinger in eastern Fayette County. It was probably named for Pavel P. Zapalac or other members of his family who resided there in 1884. There was no post office, and the community did not constitute a voting precinct. Residents attended school and church at nearby Joiner, Halstead, Fayetteville, Ross Prairie, or Ellinger.
