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Civil WarReconstruction & Gilded Age

Felix Van Der Stucken Home

Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas

Marker Inscription

The original one-story section of this residence was constructed by Felix Van Der Stucken (1833-1912) soon after he purchased the site in 1864. The two-story addition was completed later. A native of Belgium, Van Der Stucken operated a nearby steam-powered mill, later known as Reliance Roller Mills. Built of native limestone, his home features characteristics of the Victorian and Greek revival styles. It was purchased in 1940 by Alfred and Frieda Hennig. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1981

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Belgian immigrant Felix Van Der Stucken bought this Fredericksburg site in 1864 and raised the original one-story limestone section soon after, adding a second story later. He ran a steam-powered mill nearby that grew into the Reliance Roller Mills, and his home blended Victorian and Greek Revival details in native stone. The Hennig family bought the house in 1940.

Why it matters

The home of an immigrant miller, it reflects how European newcomers brought both craftsmanship and industry to the Texas Hill Country in the mid-nineteenth century.

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Related people

  • · Felix Van Der Stucken

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

Henry Cordes House

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Fredericksburg native Henry Cordes, born in 1861, had this limestone home built in 1893, beginning as a three-room dwelling accompanied by a smokehouse, tankhouse, and stone cistern. The stonework shows the fine craftsmanship of the German masons who gave the Hill Country its distinctive architecture. Cordes worked for years at the Reliance Roller Mill and the Stein Ice House and raised three children here with his wife Emma.

Old Central Drugstore

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Meckel-Hanus Building

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Saddle and harness merchant Henry Meckel bought this Fredericksburg property in 1886 and improved a stone house already on the lot dating to around 1860, adding a second level of concrete blocks and a double gallery of milled wood. In 1927 Dr. J. J. Hanus purchased the building for a hospital and reworked its facade to the look it wears today. It later served as a Catholic convent from 1949 to 1979 before being restored in 1985.

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