Manheim

Manheim (Mannheim) is on State Highway 21 six miles northwest of Giddings in western Lee County. It was largely settled by German immigrants and was probably named after Mannheim, now in West Germany. A post office opened in 1900. Adolph Wachsmann, who served as postmaster for many years, also ran a combination general store, cotton gin, real estate office, and saloon. There was also a public school, which during the 1905–06 school year enrolled twenty-one students. The population in 1914 was estimated at fifty. In the 1930s Manheim had a church, a school, several businesses, and scattered dwellings. The population dropped to around thirty in the 1950s but grew again slightly in the early 1970s. In 1980 Manheim was a dispersed rural community with a church, a community hall, one business, and a few residences. The estimated population in 1988 was forty. The population remained unchanged through 2000.