Fisches Park
Industry, Austin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Fisches Park is part of the original land granted to Frederich Ernst, known as “the Father of German immigration to Texas.” Industry is the oldest permanent German settlement in Texas and was settled by J.F. Fisches, who came to Texas from Wuerttemberg, Germany. The Fisches and Ernst families were joined through marriage and J.F. Fisches bought a piece of Ernst’s land grant to farm in 1866. One of J.F. Fisches’ sons, Willie, took over farming the family land. At the turn of the century, automobiles were on the forefront of new technology and better roads were needed throughout the country for this growing form of transportation. In 1931, the new route for Texas Highway 159 passed by the Fisches farm. Willie’s wife, Annie, was an automobile enthusiast and supported the 1939 roadside park program that sought to beautify Texas roads. When Willie Fisches died, Annie deeded land to the State Highway Commission to create the Fisches Roadside Park in 1939. The park has served the community and traveling public with an area of rest and enjoyment for over 75 years. The historical background of industry also attracts many visitors of German descent. In 2008, the park was closed due to financial constraints, which deeply affected the community. A town hall meeting was held and it was decided that the city would maintain the park. It now remains open for all visitors and community citizens and is a reminder of German heritage and settlement of the area. (2014)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This roadside park sits on land once granted to Friedrich Ernst, remembered as the father of German immigration to Texas, in Industry — the state's oldest permanent German settlement. When Highway 159 was routed past the Fisches family farm, Annie Fisches, an automobile enthusiast, deeded ground to the state in 1939 to create a rest stop under Texas's new roadside-park program. Closed in 2008 for lack of funds, it was reopened by a community unwilling to lose it.
Why it matters
It links two American stories — German settlement of the Texas frontier and the Depression-era movement to beautify the nation's new highways for a motoring public.
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Related people
- · Friedrich Ernst
- · J. F. Fisches
- · Annie Fisches
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Industry Post Office
Industry, TX
By 1831 the family of Johann Friedrich Ernst had settled along the Gotier Trace and founded the community of Industry, and Ernst's letters home to Oldenburg—one printed in German newspapers—drew a wave of countrymen to Texas, earning him the title "Father of German immigration to Texas." Mail for area residents came addressed in his care, and his partner and son-in-law Johann Gottlieb Sieper became the town's first official postmaster in 1840. The Ernst store, long held to be the site of the first post office, survives today in a memorial park.
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