Mann's Crossing

Mann’s Crossing is at the intersection of Old Pearsall Road and the Medina River in southwest Bexar County. It is named after the Mann family who immigrated to Texas from Alsace-Lorraine as part of the original Henri Castro Colony (see CASTRO’S COLONY) on the upper Medina River. The Mann family operated a ferry at Mann’s Crossing as late as the 1880s. Mann’s Crossing is part of the land granted to Sam McCulloch, Jr., a free black soldier in the Texas Revolution who settled in the area in 1852. In 1857 the Medina Baptist Church was organized at Mann's Crossing. Members of this church eventually left and founded Somerset, Texas. Sam McCulloch donated land to the church to use as a cemetery, which is now known as the Sam McCulloch Cemetery.

In 1875 Anton and Johanna Krause sold their San Antonio store and saloon and moved with their six children to southwestern Bexar County at Mann's Crossing. The family purchased 101 acres of the old McCulloch grant and built a small log cabin. Anton Krause served as postmaster of Mann's Crossing, using his house as the post office, from January 1879 to November 1880. Krause and his sons also were active in law enforcement, and the house was used by Texas Rangers and federal agents to hold prisoners at various times.