Lone Star Back Roads
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Fedor, Texas
Today Margie and I visited Fedor, Texas. We again broadcast a live Instagram video, but since all good and decent people hate vertical video, I wanted to have a horizontal format clip to post here on Facebook, on YouTube, and Read More …
The Strange Story of the Bandera County Courthouse Plans
For many years, the design of the 1890 Bandera County Courthouse was attributed to Benjamin Franklin Trester, who reportedly sold the plans to the county for $5. Even the historic marker on the building says that was the case! However, Read More …
Polly’s Chapel – Bandera County, Texas
José Policarpio ”Polly” Rodríguez, a Methodist minister, settled in Bandera County in the 1850s and acquired a large amount of land in the area. Rodríguez was a scout in US Army and served with Robert E. Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston Read More …
Bethany Lutheran Church – Greens Creek, Texas
In early 1855 the Wends arrived on the scene in the southwestern part of what is now Lee County. They named the community where they settled “Serbin” (“Wendish land” in English) and quickly erected a modest log cabin to serve Read More …
New Sweden Evangelical Lutheran Church – New Sweden, Texas
It is said that this beautiful church northeast of Austin is the most photographed church in Texas, and I’ve certainly been doing my part to keep it that way. Folks started settling in the area in 1873 and for the Read More …
Manda, Texas
Earlier this year my daughter (who will turn twelve in a few days) asked me if there are any ghost towns in Texas. “Yes,” I replied, “and we’ve even been to a few. Dubina, Serbin, Northrup, Washington on the Brazos, Read More …
John Deere Model B
As far as I know, my father’s father (“Papa” to all us grandchildren) only went to Texas once. That was when he went to Galveston to attend a reunion of the crew of the USS Tonkawa, the seagoing tug that Read More …
St. Paul Lutheran Church – Serbin, Texas
In the fall of 1854, a group of almost 600 men, women, and children from the region of Germany known as Lusatia began their long journey to Texas. These folks were Wends (or Sorbs), a West Slavic ethnic group. They Read More …
Christ Lutheran Church – Noack, Texas
It’s 1891. You just graduated from seminary, and have been assigned to four small mission congregations in the heart of Texas. A distance of about forty-five miles separates the two furthest-flung missions. There aren’t many churches associated with your denomination Read More …
St. Michael’s Lutheran Church – Winchester, Texas
St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester, Texas received its name because it was organized on September 29, 1887 on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. The lovely building they now occupy was completed in 1906. I really love Read More …