Cherry Spring is an
unincorporated farming and ranching community established in 1852 in
Gillespie County, in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
. It is located on Cherry Spring Creek, which runs from north of
Fredericksburg to
Llano. The creek was also sometimes known as Cherry Springs Creek by residents. The community is located on the old
Pinta Trail.
The
Cherry Spring School was added to the
on May 6, 2005.
The school was designated a
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the st ...
in 1985.
Current population is 75. Elevation 1,791 feet.
Settlers and Community
On December 15, 1847, a petition was submitted to create Gillespie County. In 1848, the legislature formed Gillespie County from
Bexar and
Travis
Travis may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Travis (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
*Travis (surname), a list of people
Places in the United States
*Travis, Staten Island, a neighborhood
*Travis Air Force Base, a ...
counties. While the signers were overwhelmingly German immigrants, names also on the petition were Castillo, Pena, Munos, and a handful of non-German Anglo names.
The community was originally settled by
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
immigrants Dietrich Rode, a director of the original
Zion Lutheran Church in Fredericksburg,
and William Kothe in 1852. Rode also served as a Lutheran lay minister in his home at Cherry Springs, leading to the establishment of Christ Lutheran Church. The still active church has some 200 members. Mr. Rode's original home
still stands near the church.
The 1860 Census of Gillespie County listed 117 people in Cherry Spring.
John O. Meusebach brokered the
Meusebach-Comanche Treaty in 1847, making area settlers safe from Comanche raids. However,
Kiowa
Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...
, and
Apache
The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
depredations were still committed against the settlers. The most famous white captive of the area was
Herman Lehmann
Herman Lehmann (June 5, 1859 – February 2, 1932) was captured as a child by Native Americans. He lived first among the Apache and then the Comanche but returned to his Euro-American birth family later in life. He published his autobiography, ...
.
Lehmann later ran the cattle drive stop that became the
Cherry Springs Dance Hall.
Cherry Spring School
The Cherry Mountain School Complex includes Das Alte Schulhaus (the original school) and the Cherry Spring School. The complex, the original school and Cherry Spring School were separately designated
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the U.S. state of Texas. RTHL is a legal designation and the highest honor the st ...
s. The Cherry Spring School is listed on the
.
See also
*
Cherry Springs Dance Hall
*
Enchanted Rock
Enchanted Rock is a pink granite mountain located in the Llano Uplift about north of Fredericksburg, Texas and south of Llano, Texas, United States. Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, which includes Enchanted Rock and surrounding land, spans ...
*
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ame ...
References
External links
Friends of Gillespie County Country SchoolsGillespie County Historical Society
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Unincorporated communities in Gillespie County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
German-American history
German-American culture in Texas
Populated places established in 1852
Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks
1852 establishments in Texas