Nordheim

Nordheim, Texas

Nordheim, Texas

City of Nordheim in DeWitt County, Texas. Photograph by Renelibrary.
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Nordheim, seven miles west of Yorktown near the Karnes county line in western DeWitt County, is a German community that was established in 1895 as a siding, known as Weldon Switch, on the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway. The track was built past Pilot Knob, a 447-foot hill, the highest point on the railroad line between Waco, Houston, and San Antonio. This landmark had long served as a lookout and guidepost for Indians and pioneers. Among the locale's earliest settlers were Henry Meyer, A. F. Dahlmann, and George Freude. Much of the area was owned after 1880 by H. Runge and Company of Cuero, which, through the efforts of W. H. Leckie, Simon Kiening, and Herman Fehr, laid out a townsite; the first town block was sold in 1895 to Henry Schlosser, Jr., who opened a store and became first postmaster in 1896. The next year the railroad accepted a suggestion by William Frobese, president of Runge and Company, that the community's name be changed to Nordheim, after Frobese's hometown in Germany.

Nordheim had two stores and a school with twenty-three pupils by 1897. St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1896, a cotton gin was built in 1898, and a passenger depot was added in 1901 to serve a "swank passenger train" called the Davy Crockett, which ran from Houston to San Antonio. Telephone service dates from 1900, telegraph from 1903; the town newspaper, the Nordheim View, was established in 1902 by James Walter Blanton. The first hotel was built in 1902, the first bank in 1906. In the latter year the Cuero Star described Nordheim as an important poultry-raising center and shipper of cotton, truck crops, and lumber, and the citizens of Nordheim as the "better class" of German farmers. Other businesses included small canning and hosiery factories. The town's German social organizations also date from this period-the Schuetzen Verein (shooting club), the Fortschritt (theater club), and a Sons of Hermann Lodge. The Nordheim Brass Band, indicative of another important aspect of German social life (see GERMAN MUSIC IN TEXAS), was founded in 1902, though its origins perhaps date to 1896. The band pavilion, a dance platform, and a park were built on Pilot Knob, which was the focal point of civic entertainment.

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Craig H. Roell | © TSHA

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

Belongs to

Nordheim is part of or belongs to the following places:

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Nordheim is classified as a Town

Associated Names

  • (Welden Switch)

Location

Latitude: 28.92379050
Longitude: -97.61407700

Has Post Office

Yes

Is Incorporated

Yes

Population Count, 2021 View more »

330