Ferdinand Hohenberger Farmstead

The Hohenbergers bought this land as the county was climbing out of the war years. Between 1864 and 1866 Kendall County's property tax receipts fell 52 percent, mostly from losses in farm acreage, farm value and livestock. Recovery showed by 1880: the population rose from 1,536 in 1870 to 2,763, farms from 197 to 419, and improved land from 3,617 acres to 22,452. Corn, wheat, oats and cotton took a third of that land, and sheep ranching became the county's principal industry, with 16,259 sheep producing more than 65,200 pounds of wool in 1880.

What the plaque says

Ferdinand Hohenberger Farmstead Ferdinand Hohenberger (ca. 1813-1895), with his wife Katherine Schultze and their family, left Bremen, Germany in 1855. Arriving in Galveston on November 20 after a 73-day ocean voyage, they first settled in Luckenbach (approx. 10 mi. NE). The family relocated to this area and purchased this property in 1871. Hohenberger and his family engaged in farming, and he also became a freight driver, traveling between San Antonio and Indianola on the Texas coast. In 1882, Ferdinand deeded 160 acres of land to each of his sons, William and Theodor. This property was part of the land deeded to William Hohenberger. He and his family lived here until 1914, and William operated a store and post office from one of the buildings on the homestead. He died in 1932 at age 82. The property remained in the Hohenberger family until 1915. Four undated gravestones on the farmstead mark the burials of family members. In addition to the graves of Ferdinand and Katherine Schultze Hohenberger are the interments of Mrs. Reichenthin and Mrs. Hagelman, believed to be sisters of Katherine Hohenberger. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Old Tunnel State Park — 1.9 mi
  A railroad tunnel abandoned in 1942 that now shelters up to three million Mexican free-tailed bats, who fly out each evening from May through October.
• Luckenbach — 5.2 mi
  A store, saloon and dance hall on Grape Creek that a humorist bought in 1971, declared a free state of mind, and turned into a pilgrimage for Texas music.
• Fort Martin Scott — 8.5 mi
  An army post of 1848 on Barons Creek beside the German town, where soldiers kept the peace of a Comanche trade and paid the merchants in hard cash.
• National Museum of the Pacific War — 10 mi
  A museum of the war in the Pacific in Chester Nimitz's hometown, dedicated at his request to the two million who served with him, with a garden given by Japan.

More markers nearby

• Tunnel of the Fredericksburg & Northern Railway — 1.8 mi
• Jakob (Jacob) Brodbeck — 5.3 mi
• Engel Family — 5.3 mi
• The Pinta Trail — 6.8 mi