Prairie Hill

Prairie Hill is on County Road 63 five miles north of Brenham in north central Washington County. The town was originally settled by German immigrants in the early 1870s. In 1876 the townspeople, led by Pastor C. C. Rudi, organized St. John's Lutheran Church. By the late 1870s the town had one of the first Missouri Synod ministers in Texas, the Reverend Peter Klindworth. The small farming community prospered in its early years. By 1896 the town had its own school. The church was enlarged in 1911, burned down in 1912, and was rebuilt the same year. People from all over the county traveled to Prairie Hill to attend its annual kinderfest, or children's festival, celebrated on Easter Monday; in the 1980s the festival was still held each year. In 1925 the church joined the Texas Lutheran synod. After World War II the population began to decline. The school was consolidated into the Brenham Independent School District. In the 1980s Prairie Hill had a 4-H Club and a volunteer fire company, and St. John's Church continued to play an active role in community life.