Schulenburg, Texas, Fayette County, Home of the Painted Church Tour. (original) (raw)

Schulenburg Texas Main Street on 14 M. February 1895
Click on image to enlarge
Photo courtesy Dan Whatley Collection

Schulenburg, Texas Attractions

• The Painted Churches Tour
  Maps- Available at the Schulenburg Chamber of Commerce
  618 N. Main. 979-743-4514
  and are available even after hours on the porch.
• Navidad Valley Heritage Museum
  631 North Main. Open Mon, Wed and Fri 10am - 4pm and by appointment.
• The Stanzel Model Aircraft Museum
  Just after you go South on 77 through the underpass, you'll see a large brightly painted bi-plane on your left. Sunday Hours are 1:30 to 4:00. Wednesday to Friday 1:00 to 4:00 and Saturday 11:00 to 4:00. The Stanzel Family Foundation is a model of small town philanthropy. Website - http://www.stanzelmuseum.org/
• The Schaefer Observatory
  Located in back of the Chamber of Commerce you'll find the Structure. The telescope resides in the Museum. Edison Schaefer hand-ground the 10 inch lens in back of his father's Hardware store. The store was built in 1896 and now is home to the Schulenburg Sticker (The town's newspaper). The $1500 price tag for the observatory was a lot of money then, but if you named your son Edison, we suppose you're committed to funding projects.

	Navidad Baptist Cemetery AKA the "American" Cemetery, Tubbs Cemetery and (Incorrectly Identified on 1965 Maps as) Lyons Cemetery. SE of Schulenburg

• City Cemetery
  Follow Russek Street west until it reaches a dead end. This shaded park with its Cedar-lined Streets is in stark contrast to the Catholic Cemeteries of the region, which are all treeless or nearly treeless. The plot that the cemetery is built around is in the NW corner. The Lyons Family were the original settlers and the Indian attack that occurred in 1837, left father James dead and son William kidnapped. Note the incorrect name on the stone and the correction on the historical marker two feet away.

	Schulenburg's City Cemetery TE photo

• Von Minden Hotel and Cozy Theater
  Built in 1929 and still in operation, this is the last Hotel/Theater left in Texas. The operation has changed hands only once and very little else has. Momma's Pizza is one of Schulenburg's only off-the-highway eateries.
• Ghosts of the Von Minden

Schulenburg Chronicles

	Beating plowshares into swords or whatever - just keep the beer coming. Courtesy Fayette County Heritage Museum & Archives

Schulenburg Railroad Depot. More Texas Depots
Courtesy Fayette County Heritage Museum & Archives

	Old Bottling Works TE photo

Schulenburg, Texas Forum

• One of the other unique things I like about Schulenburg is the Jewish synagogue there. Very unique for Central Texas.
  The strong Jewish merchant class throughout Central Texas at beginning of century has now largely disappeared. The Glossermanns in Lockhart are another exception. - Richard Zelade, author of "Hill Country", July 06, 2000
• Subject: Velehrad and Schulenburg
  Dear TE, My father Richard Schumann lived in Schulenburg and was courting my mother (Albina Ermis) in the very early 1900s. Leaving her place in Velehrad, one dark evening, he got his truck stuck on the muddy road on the way to Engle. At that time he was working for the railroad at Schulenburg and one of his duties was to meet the midnight passenger train. His initial panic gave way to fast thinking and he grabbed the railroad lantern from his truck and ran to the tracks as he knew a freight train was due very soon.
  He lit the lantern and started waving it in front of the oncoming frieght train. The engineer stopped to find out the emergency and my dad said: "I'm stuck down the road but I have to meet the midnight passenger train in Schulenburg." The enginner told him to hop on. As the train gathered speed, the engineer then informed him that he would not be stopping in Schulenburg since the delay had put him behind schedule. "...but I will slow down for you to jump off" the engineer said and this he did. I have heard my father tell that story many times.
  P.S. I have spelled Velehrad everyway imaginable. I hope I have it right this time. - Harold Schumann, Van Alstyne, Texas, November 10, 2006

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