Salem Lutheran Church

Salem began as a split. When Lutherans at Berlin took up a proposed constitution, Pastor Johann Ebinger and a conservative group objected to its doctrine and some articles, and moved to farms southwest of Brenham. Their log church was dedicated in 1857 and replaced in 1867 by a frame one with German designs painted on the walls. Nearby was the Round House, an eight-sided feed mill Gustav Weiss modeled on Dutch mills. The Confederate army called him away before the machinery went in; he died soon after returning, and his widow moved the mill into her home.

What the plaque says

Salem Lutheran Church This church was organized in the Salem community on Nov. 22, 1856, by The Rev. Johann G. Ebinger and 17 charter members. Worship services were first held in a log cabin on land deeded by Wilhelm Bohne (.3 mi. SW). In 1913 the church moved to the present site. The second oldest German Lutheran congregation in Washington County, Salem Lutheran Church has led in the development of the area. Programs have included sponsorship of a cemetery (1869), a school (1886), Sunday School (1897), Women's Auxiliary (1897), Luther League (1900), and Junior Lutherans (1947). (1981)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 14 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Round Top and Festival Hill — 17 mi
  A German village on the old La Bahía Road, named for a house tower, with an 1867 stone church, a Fourth of July kept since 1851 and a concert hall a pianist built without blueprints.
• Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site — 21 mi
  The townsite on the Brazos where delegates met in a cold, unfinished hall in March 1836 to declare Texas independent, with Independence Hall rebuilt and Anson Jones's Barrington farm worked as in 1850.
• Star of the Republic Museum — 21 mi
  A star-shaped museum of the Republic of Texas years, 1836 to 1846, built at Washington-on-the-Brazos after a Brenham campaign and opened on March 1, 1970.

More markers nearby

• Pleasant Hill School — 1.7 mi
• Germania Mutual Aid Association — 2.2 mi
• 100th Anniversary Brenham "Banner-Press" — 2.3 mi
• William H. Watson — 2.7 mi