Gus F. Schreiner Home
Kerrville, Kerr County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1883 wealthy rancher and banker Charles Schreiner bought this land. His son Gus F. (1866-1962) later acquired the property. In 1901 Gus and his wife Huldah (Rummel) (1872-1943) erected the first floor of this house, called "Cedarcrest". "Mr. Gus" operated Schreiner Land and Livestock Co. and served on Texas Game, Fish, and Oyster Commission. This farm, active for 60 years, had corn fields, horse pastures, a garden, fruit trees, stables and a smokehouse. With the addition of a second story and extensive remodeling in 1916 and 1919, the house became a showplace and center of social activities. (1979)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This ranch home reflects the wealth and reach of the Schreiner family, who dominated the Texas Hill Country's ranching and banking. Charles Schreiner bought the land in 1883, and his son Gus F. Schreiner built the first floor of "Cedarcrest" in 1901 while running Schreiner Land and Livestock Co. and serving on the state's Game, Fish, and Oyster Commission. With a second story and remodeling in 1916 and 1919, the working farm's house became a social showplace.
Why it matters
The Schreiner enterprises shaped the economy of the Texas Hill Country, and their homestead illustrates how ranching fortunes built the region's leading families.
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Related people
- · Charles Schreiner
- · Gus F. Schreiner
- · Huldah Rummel Schreiner
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Comparette Home
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Built in 1890 in Kerrville's Tivy Addition, this Victorian house passed through several hands during the Texas Hill Country's Gilded Age growth, including the prominent physician Dr. R. H. P. Wright. It is best known for D. H. Comparette, a civic leader who organized and managed the Kerrville Telephone Company, whose family held the home for more than seventy years. One of Dr. Wright's daughters married future Texas Governor Coke Stevenson, tying the house to the state's political history.
Christian Dietert Mill
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German millwright Christian Dietert, who had already built mills at Comfort and Fredericksburg, settled here in 1857 and—with young miller Balthasar Lich—raised a mill and dam on the Guadalupe to serve the pioneers of the settlement then called Kerrsville. The operation ground crops and cut lumber for area homes, fueling the town's growth before Captain Charles Schreiner bought and enlarged it.
Kerrville Telephone Company
Kerrville, TX
In 1896, A. C. Schriner and D. H. Comparette sealed a deal with a handshake and $1,000 to start Kerrville's telephone exchange, first linking two wool warehouses before other businesses clamored to join. Within two years lines stretched to Rocksprings, Harper, Junction, and Medina, with remote ranches serving as toll stations well into the 1950s. Incorporated in 1907, the family-run company operated for more than a century.
Masonic Building
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Built of locally quarried limestone, this late Italianate building went up after Charles Schreiner formed the Kerrville Masonic Company in 1890, its façade dressed with arched openings, stone quoins, and a pressed-metal cornice. Kerrville Lodge No. 697 met on the second floor until 1927, when it moved out and leased the space to the Odd Fellows. The ground floor served the town in turn as post office, C.C. Butt Grocery, and Texas Power and Light, and the property stayed in the Schreiner family until 1959.