Grapetown, Texas, Gillespie County ghost town. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

The town dates from 1848 when one John Hemphill settled alongside the Fredericksburg-San Antonio road. Six years later he was joined by eight other settlers. This loosely-knit community took its first step toward becoming a town when Friedrich Wilhelm Doebbler opened his Doebbler's Inn hostelry in 1860.

Around this time Grapetown's economy was based on cattle. Grapetown remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War and at least two local men played cat and mouse with Confederate patrols in the area. (See Bandera Tradgedy Tree).

Friedrich Doebbler hosted the town's first school in his home in 1859. About 1870 a nine-to-ten-month school was opened with teachers paid by subscription. A stone school was built in 1880, and from 1885 to 1888 a post office operated within the walls of Doebbler's Inn.

In 1887 a singing club and a shooting club merged (allowing members to sing while shooting) and as if that wasn't enough, Grapetown then started the first annual Gillespie County Schuetzenfest (shooting festival). The Handbook of Texas allows that during this festival, 140 kegs of beer were consumed in four days - but gives no information on the accuracy of the marksmen.

The Fredericksburg and Northern Railway arrived in 1913. Otto Cowan, grandson of Friedrich Doebbler, had the sad duty of closing Doebbler's Inn in 1915.

When Highway 87 was rerouted through Comfort in 1932, Grapetown's economy predicably declined.

In 1944 Grapetown's school consolidated with Rocky Hill. The schoolhouse was purchased by the community and is in use as community center.

From 145 people in 1900 (estimated) Grapetown was down to just 70 by the mid 60s.

See Grapetown Schoolhouse ›

Photographer's Note:
"There's really not a whole lot left of this town beyond the cemetery, the original sign in German, the school house, and two other buildings." -

Shannan Yarbrough , June 2005

Grapetown, Texas Forum

Subject: Correction to Grapetown School Photos
Shannan Yarbrough did a really nice job taking pictures of the Grapetown School and School Teachers House. However, all of the photos on Grapetown-Schoolhouse-Texas.htm are of the School Teacher's House and not the school. The school is adjacent and does not have a full length porch as does the teacher's house.

I am involved in the community club activities which are held in the school house and live about 1 mile west near Walter Doebbler's homestead. The top picture on [this page] shows the school house to the right and the back of the teacher's house to the left. Thanks for listening! - Jim Thompson, A Barn at the Quarry, June 16, 2006

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