Hochheim

Hochheim is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and State Highway 111 in northeastern DeWitt County. It was named for Valentine Hoch, a native of Alsace-Lorraine who contracted for a homesite in DeWitt County before he immigrated to Texas. Its name may be translated "Hoch's Home" or "High Home"; either meaning is appropriate, since Hoch settled on a hill. Hoch's youngest child died only a few days before the family left Europe, but Hoch, his wife, and their three other children continued their trek and landed at Indianola, Texas, where Mrs. Hoch died and was buried. Hoch arrived with his children at their DeWitt County homesite and in 1856, after several years' labor as a stonemason, completed a 2½-story house constructed of Guadalupe riverbank stones. Hoch later remarried and adopted his new wife's three daughters. After Hoch's settlement, at least six more families arrived, and the community was being called Hochheim and sometimes Dutchtown. The town, located on the stage route to Indianola and Austin, grew as a trading center. A post office was established there in 1870, when the settlement had two groceries, a drugstore, and a blacksmith shop. The Cumberland Presbyterian church that had been established at the old Upper Cuero Creek settlement was moved to Hochheim in 1882; a new building was erected in 1924, and the congregation was still active in 1961. The Hochheim German Methodist Church was organized in 1864 and served the community for a number of years. A Baptist church was established about 1923 and operated through the 1940s. The town also had a Masonic lodge.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.