St. John Lutheran Church

Behind the plaque's 1886 founding lay a practical wish: families of the Ebenezer congregation on San Antonio Prairie wanted a school closer to home, according to Pastor Gotthilf Birkmann's 1932 history of the county's Missouri Synod churches. The new parish grew fast. In 1888 it counted 138 baptized and 78 communing members; by about 1903 it had 440 baptized. Herman Schroeder taught its school from 1890 for more than twenty years before leaving for Serbin. F. Wunderlich and then R. Osthoff followed Ernst in the pulpit, and in 1932 the school held 72 pupils.

What the plaque says

St. John Lutheran Church With the assistance of pastors from neighboring communities, a Lutheran congregation was organized to serve the Lincoln community in April 1886. The Rev. Th. Wolfram arrived in 1887 to serve as St. John's first resident pastor. Ministers in the early years also filled the role of teachers at the school located on the church grounds. An 1892 sanctuary constructed during the pastorate of the Rev. Louis Ernst served the congregation until it was damaged in a 1957 tornado. St. John Lutheran Church stands as an important part of the heritage of Lee County. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas Wendish Heritage Museum — 11 mi
  A museum at Serbin of the Wends, a Slavic people from Lusatia whose congregation of nearly 600 crossed on the Ben Nevis in 1854, losing seventy-three to cholera on the way.
• Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway — 15 mi
  Two park units on an 11,000-acre lake between Austin and College Station, joined by a thirteen-mile trailway for hikers, cyclists and riders with primitive camps along the way.
• Bastrop State Park — 22 mi
  The westernmost loblolly pines in the United States, cut off from the East Texas forest by a hundred miles of post oak, burned almost entirely in 2011 and growing back.
• Round Top and Festival Hill — 22 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.

More markers nearby

• Old Evergreen Tree — 1.4 mi
• King's Highway - Camino Real - Old San Antonio Road — 4.0 mi
• King's Highway - Camino Real - Old San Antonio Road — 4.5 mi
• Trinity Lutheran Church — 5.8 mi