Sisterdale, Texas | |
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  Sisterdale Location in Texas and the United States Show map of Texas Sisterdale Sisterdale (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Coordinates:29°58′23″N98°43′15″W / 29.97306°N 98.72083°W /29.97306; -98.72083 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Kendall |
| Elevation | 1,280 ft (390 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 78006 (Boerne) |
| Area code | 830 |
| FIPS code | 48-68060[2] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1347179[1] |
Sisterdale is anunincorporated farming and ranching community established in 1847 and located 13 miles (21 km) north ofBoerne inKendall County, in theU.S. state ofTexas. The community is located in the valley of Sister Creek.[3] The elevation is 1,280 feet (390 m).[4]
Sisterdale[5] was settled in 1847 byGerman surveyor andfree thinkerNicolaus Zink.[6] Originally part ofComal County, Sisterdale became part of Kendall County when the latter was formed in 1862.
Among the settlers were German pioneers Fritz andBetty Holekamp,[7] geographerErnst Kapp;[8]Anhalt Premier progeny[9] BaronOttomar von Behr;[10] journalistCarl Adolph Douai;[11]August Siemering[12] who later founded theSan Antonio Express News; author, journalist and diplomatJulius Fröbel; futureWall Street financial wizard Gustav Theissen;[9] andEdgar von Westphalen,[13][14][15] brother toJenny von Westphalen who was married toKarl Marx.[16]
The first child born in Sisterdale (and in Kendall County) was Julius Holekamp on June 10, 1849, to Fritz and Betty Holekamp.[17]
One notable early colonist wasEdward Degener, futureRepublicancongressman fromTexas during theReconstruction era. Degener's sons Hugo and Hilmar died during theAmerican Civil War in theNueces massacre. To honor their memory, Degener along with Eduard Steves and William Heuermann purchased land for the establishment of the German-languageTreue der Union Monument, which was built in 1866 and listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1978.[18]
Also among the settlers was Julius Dresel (or Dressel), a member of the German Chambers of Deputies,[9][19] who was the first to plant a Sisterdale vineyard. His brother Emil Dresel and partner Jacob Gundlach later established theRhein Farm Vineyard inSonoma, California. Julius later moved toSan Antonio. Upon the death of brother Emil, who bequeathed Julius his share of the Sonoma vineyard, Julius moved his family to California.[20]
The community received a post office in 1851, and Ottomar W. Behr was the first postmaster.[21]
Sisterdale eventually had a school house, a gas station-garage, a general store, acotton gin, and a factory for making cypress shingles. The old 1885 cotton gin in Sisterdale has been restored and is today home to Sister Creek Vineyards.[22]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 150 | — | |
| 1910 | 26 | — | |
| 1920 | 50 | 92.3% | |
| 1970 | 63 | — | |
| 1980 | 100 | 58.7% | |
| 1990 | 60 | −40.0% | |
| 2000 | 25 | −58.3% | |
| 2010 | 110 | 340.0% |
Source: Texas Escapes[23]
Sisterdale was one of theLatin Settlements, resulting from theRevolutions of 1848 in the German states. Those who came wereForty-Eighters, intellectual liberal abolitionists who enjoyed conversing inLatin and believed in utopian ideals that guaranteed basic human rights to all.[9] They reveled in passionate conversations about literature, music and philosophy.[24]
The free thinkers petitioned theTexas Legislature in 1853 for a charter to operate a German-English college to be built at Sisterdale, but the petition did not come to fruition.[25]
Irene Marschall King, granddaughter ofJohn O. Meusebach, remembered how her grandfather enjoyed the intellectual stimulation of visits to Sisterdale,[24] where a man of his aristocratic background could relate to such cultured free thought discourse, and where the air filled with concert music, singing, dancing and an ambience of generalGemütlichkeit.
In 1853, August Siemering was elected secretary, and Ernst Kapp the president, of the freethinkerabolitionist organizationDer Freie Verein (The Free Society),[26][27] which called for a meeting of abolitionist German Texans[28] in conjunction with the May 14, 1854, Staats-Saengerfest (State Singing Festival) inSan Antonio.Wilhelm Victor Keidel was elected vice president of the convention, which adopted a political, social and religious platform,[29] including:
1) Equal pay for equal work; 2) Direct election of the President of the United States; 3) Abolition ofcapital punishment; 4) Slavery is an evil, the abolition of which is a requirement of democratic principles...; 5) Free schools – including universities – supported by the state, without religious influence; and 6) Total separation of church and state.
One of the most tragic episodes in the history of Kendall County happened in 1862 after Texas joined theConfederacy. The Confederacy considered the free thinkers of Sisterdale and like communities to be a threat.[28] A number of Kendall County Germans becameconscientious objectors to the military draft. Confederate authorities reacted by imposingmartial law on central Texas. 61 conscientious objectors attempted to flee to Mexico. Confederate irregular James Duff[30] and hisDuff's Partisan Rangers pursued them. At theNueces River, 34 were killed, and some executed after being taken prisoner. In 1866, Kendall County erected theTreue der Union Monument ("Loyalty to the Union") monument[31][32] dedicated to the German Texans slain at theNueces massacre.
Some of the early settlers in Sisterdale migrated from the collapsedFisher–Miller Land Grant experimental colonies of the Darmstadt Society of Forty.
Sisterdale Valley District | |
 Sisterdale Bed and Breakfast | |
| Location | FM 1376, Sisterdale, Texas |
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| Area | 2,893 acres (1,171 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 75001996[33] |
| Added to NRHP | January 8, 1975 |
TheSisterdale Valley District is a 2,893-acre (1,171 ha)historic district in Sisterdale, Texas that was listed on the U.S.National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It included 15contributing buildings and six othercontributing structures.[33] The historic buildings include an 1890s dance hall.[34]
Various sources discuss Sisterdale.[35][36][37][38][39]
Municipalities and communities ofKendall County, Texas,United States | ||
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| Other communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
