New Braunfels is situated in Comal and Guadalupe counties. Braunfels means “brown rock” in German; the city is named for Braunfels, in Germany. The city’s population was 57,740 as...
Things to See & Do in Central Texas
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Fredericksburg
Several black families were residing in Gillespie County by the 1870s. A schoolhouse was built in 1877 on property adjacent to this later church site. Blacks probably met in the school for worship...
Hill Country Sunrise
A Spring sunrise in the Hill Country. Photo by Adam Barker
Driftwood
Driftwood, seventeen miles northwest of San Marcos in central Hays County, grew up in the 1880s as a supply center for neighboring ranches and farms. Pioneers settled in the area, then known as...
Lake Buchanan Lighthouse
The Lake Buchanan Lighthouse is a privately owned lighthouse that is near Buchanan Dam. It can be seen as you drive along at the south end of Lake Buchanan on Hwy 29. Photo Jeffrey Spencer
Bastrop County Countryside
“Texas is the finest portion of the globe that has blessed my vision.” ~ Sam Houston, 1833. Photo by joolieboolie
Lawrence Chapel, Williamson County
Lawrence Chapel is off Farm Road 112 eleven miles southeast of Taylor in southeastern Williamson County. It was named for Adam Lawrence, a pioneer rancher and farmer and a veteran of the Texas...
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in New Bielau
The Rev. G. Geiger organized Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church on June 2, 1886, with a membership of six families. The church serves two communities, Content and New Bielau, located within one mile...
Hempstead
Hempstead is in Waller County, Texas. The community, located at the junctions of U.S. Highway 290, Texas State Highway 6, and Texas State Highway 159, is around fifty miles northwest of Downtown...
Starlite Drive-In in Schertz
The ticket booth and marquee are still standing. In its day, capacity was around 200 cars. photo by Noel Kerns
Boerne
Founded in 1852 by German settlers and incorporated in 1909, the City of Boerne was one of the area’s most strategic transportation locations on routes for those traveling into San Antonio or...
Lake Belton
Belton Lake is located on the Leon River 16.7 miles upstream of the confluence of the Leon River and the Little River. It is in the northern part of Bell County, Texas about three miles north of the...
Chappell Hill
Chappell Hill is a small rural community in the eastern portion of Washington County, Texas, United States. It is located along U.S. Highway 290 roughly halfway between Brenham and Hempstead...
Lake Buescher, Smithville
Buescher State Park is a state park located just north of Smithville. The park consists of 1,016.7 acres of public land donated to the state by Mr. Emil and Mrs. Elizabeth Buescher, as well as the...
Grey-Crowned Crane, San Antonio Zoo
The grey-crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats. They can...
Virginia Field Park, Calvert
Virginia Field Park, a gorgeous green space within the Historic District of Calvert, originated in 1868 as a donation for park space from the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. The large red roofed...
Giddings
Giddings, county seat of Lee County, is on U.S. highways 290 and 77, fifty-five miles east of Austin and 100 miles west of Houston. The land was originally part of Stephen F. Austin’s colony...
St. Stanislaus in Chappell Hill
In 1888, Rev. James Grabinger, announced that a church would be built in Chappell Hill — St. Stanislaus. The great hurricane of 1900 that devastated Galveston destroyed this first church. The...