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The town of Lowndesboro had its best days before the Civil War - it escaped being burned by the Union army, but declined after the cotton era and today it is a small rural community dominated by home restorers who have remodeled antebellum plantation houses like this one.

A group of German noblemen, the Adelsverein, formed a partnership in 1842 to promote immigration to Texas. Over five years, the Verein shipped 7,000 German immigrants to the new state. Otfried Hans, Freiherr von Meusebach and Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels were commissioners. The Verein had purchased some rugged, almost unpopulated Indian country in west-central Texas for $5,000, but the initial group of immigrants was so large that Prince Carl purchased alternative land on the Comal River, much closer to other Anglo settlements, and established the town of New Braunfels as a stepping stone in 1845. Meusebach purchased 10,000 acres near the Pedernales River for a second settlement and founded Fredericksburg in 1846 (a 16-day journey from New Braunfels). Today both towns, especially Fredericksburg, retain their German character.

Queen Anne style, built about 1901

209 West San Antonio Street