Medina County, Texas
Hondo is home to 17 official Texas Historical Commission markers — each one telling a piece of the city’s story. Browse the markers below, then find them on the map and discover more nearby with RoadHistorical.
Medina County, Formed from Bexar County. Created Februaru 12, 1848, organized August 7, 1848. Named for the river which traverses the county. County Seat, Castroville, 1848-1892, Hondo since. Primarily a farming and…
View on map ↗From Application for Texas Historical Building Medallion: Brick, partial two-story, inner walls also solid brick, hand-carved staircase, other hand-carved interior features, tongue-and-grooved wood ceilings.
View on map ↗In 1859, a decade after Medina County was created, Freemasons and others in the New Fountain Settlement built a 2-story stone church-lodge hall at this site. Hondo Valley Lodge No. 252, A.F. & A.M., was chartered in…
View on map ↗Store-residence built in D'Hanis about 1878 by John Fohn (1839-91), a native of Prussia. In addition to a general mercantile store, the structure was also the site of D'Hanis elections and a Justice of the Peace Court.…
View on map ↗This region, known as Soldaten Kemp (soldiers' camp) for its history as a rendezvous point for frontier military patrols, freighters and others on the San Antonio Road, was home to many German immigrants by the mid-19th…
View on map ↗The Rev. Christian Oefinger, serving as pastor of the Castroville Lutheran Church, led in founding this congregation in March 1852. The first church building was dedicated in 1854, coincidental with a synod convention…
View on map ↗The land on which this live oak stands was purchased by German migrant Johann Wiemers, who came here in 1854. The Rev. John Schaper held services under the tree and converted Johann and his wife Aalke to Methodism. They…
View on map ↗The first rail line reached this area in 1881 and town lots were sold that year for Hondo City. The line was built by the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway. It connected with the Southern Pacific System…
View on map ↗Medina County was organized in 1848 with Castroville as the county seat. In 1892, as the result of an election, the seat of county administration was relocated to Hondo City (now Hondo). The commissioners court…
View on map ↗Built in 1907 for Ernest Roland Leinweber (1869-1922), a prominent Hondo businessman, this three-story commercial building was constructed by prolific South Texas contractor Gus Birkner, who also participated in the…
View on map ↗Following Texas Emancipation in 1865, many freed slaves remained in this area on their former masters' farms. By 1869 blacks had organized a church and a school on the north bank of Hondo Creek (about 2 mi. N).…
View on map ↗In 1842 the Mexican Army launched three invasions into Texas to reclaim territory lost during the Texas Revolution. Col. Rafael Vasquez's Army briefly occupied San Antonio in March, and in July Texans fought with Col.…
View on map ↗Constructed of Seco brick in 1912, this is the second church structure to serve the Catholic community in Hondo. Designed by San Antonio architect Fred Bowen Gaenslen, it was built by Alfred R. Wottlin during the…
View on map ↗During the mid-1800s the Texas Hill Country was the site of many hostile encounters, some deadly, between pioneer immigrants whose permanent settlements ran counter to area Native Americans accustomed to unrestrained…
View on map ↗Located on the banks of Verde Creek (Arroyo Verde), Vandenburg, founded in 1846, was one of the colonies established by Empresario Henri Castro. Immigrants settled nearby and began farming. They dug a trench eight feet…
View on map ↗Spanish explorers passed this way several times in the centuries preceding Anglo settlement of the area. The original village that would become Hondo was situated on "El Arroyo Hondo," named by the Spanish. Permanent…
View on map ↗Early Methodist settlers in this area worshipped under a live oak tree on the banks of the Hondo Creek. The Methodists organized as a church in 1857 and held services in a log hut. A church/Masonic lodge was built on…
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