Herman and Ada Knibbe Home
Spring Branch, Comal County, Texas
Marker Inscription
IN 1910, HERMAN KNIBBE (1884–1954), GRANDSON OF THE FIRST SETTLER OF SPRING BRANCH, GERMAN IMMIGRANT DIETRICH KNIBBE (1817–1896), BUILT THIS HOUSE WITH HIS WIFE, ADA (OHLRICH) KNIBBE (1889–1980). THE HOUSE WAS ONE OF THREE RESIDENCES ON THE SAME ROAD OWNED BY HERMAN AND HIS TWO BROTHERS, ARNO KNIBBE (1889–1984) AND HARRY KNIBBE (1886–1974). THE KNIBBE FAMILY PLAYED AN INTEGRAL ROLE IN THE GROWTH OF SPRING BRANCH, OPERATING THE LOCAL GENERAL STORE AND SERVING AS POSTMASTERS. THE KNIBBES CONSTRUCTED THIS HOUSE USING LARGE QUARRIED ROCK, OBTAINED FROM THEIR RANCH ON A HILLSIDE EAST OF THE PROPERTY. THE OVERALL STRUCTURE OF THE HOUSE IS INTACT FROM ITS ORIGINAL 1910 CONSTRUCTION, INCLUDING ORIGINAL EXTERIOR WALLS, ALL EXTERIOR ENTRANCE DOORS WITH TRANSOMS AND FULL–LENGTH OVAL BEVELED GLASS PANES, AND SINGLE-PANE WINDOWS WITH WAVY GLASS. ALONG WITH THE MAIN HOUSE, THE KNIBBES BUILT A CHICKEN HOUSE, A PARTIALLY UNDERGROUND CISTERN WITH AN ATTACHED HAND PUMP, A WOODEN SMOKEHOUSE, AN ADDITIONAL CARETAKER’S HOUSE BUILT IN 1930, A TIN–COVERED OUTBUILDING WHICH ORIGINALLY SERVED AS A CARRIAGE HOUSE, AND A TWO–ROOM WOODWORK SHOP AND STORAGE AREA. UTILIZING ALL THE RESOURCES SPRING BRANCH HAD TO OFFER, THE KNIBBES MILLED WOOD, FARMED COTTON, RAISED CATTLE, CHICKENS, AND GOATS, QUARRIED ROCK AND PROVIDED WATER AND ELECTRICITY TO THE AREA. OVER A CENTURY OF KNIBBES LIVED IN THIS HOUSE, WHICH STANDS AS A TESTAMENT TO THE HARDSHIPS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE EARLIEST SETTLERS OF SPRING BRANCH AND THE LEGACY OF THEIR DESCENDANTS. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK – 2018
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1910 Herman Knibbe — grandson of Spring Branch's first settler, German immigrant Dietrich Knibbe — built this rock house with his wife Ada, one of three brothers' homes along the same road. Constructed from stone quarried on the family ranch, it survives largely intact, with its original walls, transomed doors, and wavy-glass windows still in place. The Knibbes milled wood, farmed cotton, raised livestock, quarried rock, and even furnished water and electricity, running the general store and serving as postmasters as the community grew around them.
Why it matters
The home stands as a tangible record of the German immigrant families who built the Texas Hill Country, self-sufficient settlers whose descendants shaped a community across more than a century.
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Related people
- · Herman Knibbe
- · Ada Knibbe
- · Dietrich Knibbe
Themes & tags
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