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
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...
Piano Bridge near Dubina
This fine old iron bridge was built in 1885 by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Called the “Piano Bridge,” some say the name was derived from the twanging sound made while...
Carmine
Originally called Sylvan, the name was changed to honor Newton Carmean, the first postmaster in 1892.
Lake Belton Sunset
Belton Lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on the Leon River in the Brazos River basin, 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Belton, United States. The lake extends into both Bell...
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
Colorful Tour of the Hill Country Painted Churches
When immigrants from Moravia found passage into Galveston, the Ellis Island of the South, many headed for the Texas Hill Country bringing a piece of their homeland with them.
Lady Bird Lake in Austin
Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Downtown Austin. It was created in 1960 by the construction of Longhorn Dam and is owned and operated by the City of Austin...
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...
Fayetteville
Fayetteville’s first immigrant settlers were the families headed by John Crier, James Cummins, and James J. Ross three of the Old Three Hundred. The settlement began at the location of a...
St. Olaf Kirke
St. Olaf Kirke, commonly referred to as The Rock Church, is a small Lutheran church located outside of Cranfills Gap in an unincorporated rural community known as Norse. St. Olaf Kirke is situated on...
Hearn-Gidden House in Kosse
Kosse, located in Limestone County in Central Texas, has a colorful history dating to 1869. Born as a railroad village, Kosse has had booms and busts throughout its history. It is the birthplace of...
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...
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...
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...
Sunset in McKinney Falls
Sunset in McKinney Falls State Park, located at the southeastern edge of Austin around the confluence of Onion and Williamson Creeks and is administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department...
Brazos River
The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers (translated as “The River of the Arms of God”), is the longest river in Texas and the 11th longest river...
Comfort
From an architectural viewpoint, Comfort is extremely rich. Nearly the entire downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places. Many rock buildings and businesses remain in a splendid state of...