Walburg

Walburg, originally known as Concordia, is a German community on Farm Road 972 thirty-three miles northeast of Austin in Williamson County. Henry Doering moved to the area in 1881 and opened a general store the following year. In 1886 he added a post office and renamed the settlement after his hometown of Walburg, Germany. Two Lutheran churches were also established during the 1880s, and both are still active, one operating a school. By the 1890s Walburg was a judicial seat and a shipping point, with a physician, a drugstore, a blacksmith, a shoemaker, banking facilities, and a cotton gin. The town's estimated population rose from 16 in 1890 to 102 in 1904 and 200 in 1925. A rapid increase to 400 residents was reported in 1929, but the population returned to 200 by 1933. From 1945 through 1990 the estimated population remained stable at 250. Ethnic groups in the area include German, Wendish, Czechoslovakian, Austrian, and Swiss. Commercial activity has declined significantly since the 1970s. Walburg reported eight businesses in 1976 but only two in 1984. In 1986 there were four businesses in the town. In 2000 the population was 250 with eight businesses.