Mueller-Petmecky House
Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The original portion of this house probably was built between 1848 and 1850 by Willis Wallace, who was granted the land by the German Immigration Company. Of fachwerk construction, the two-room home later was acquired by German farmer Heinrich Mueller, Jr. Mueller's daughter Augusta and son-in-law A. W. Petmecky, who served as justice of the peace for 42 years, built the limestone addition after the birth of their second child in 1895. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The oldest part of this Fredericksburg house was built about 1848-1850 by Willis Wallace on land granted by the German Immigration Company, using traditional fachwerk timber-frame construction. German farmer Heinrich Mueller, Jr. later acquired it, and his daughter and son-in-law A.W. Petmecky — a justice of the peace for forty-two years — added a limestone wing in 1895.
Why it matters
Its fachwerk core is a tangible link to the German immigrants whose building traditions still define the Texas Hill Country.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Willis Wallace
- · Heinrich Mueller, Jr.
- · A. W. Petmecky
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Kiehne-Hermann Home
Fredericksburg, TX
German-born blacksmith Frederick Kiehne built this house in 1850, and it stood out immediately: the first two-story home in Fredericksburg, where even prosperous neighbors made do with sleeping lofts. He raised it from hand-cut limestone, adobe brick, and native timber—the improvised toolkit of frontier builders. A county commissioner as well as a smith, Kiehne left a home enlarged by later owners and restored in the 1970s.
The William Rausch House
Fredericksburg, TX
Gillespie County native William Rausch and his wife, Olga, bought this Fredericksburg property in 1894 and, in 1906, built the home that stands here. A stonemason and carpenter by trade, Rausch likely did much of the work himself, raising a German vernacular limestone house whose central gable carries jig-cut decorative trim. The home stayed in the family until 1943, a modest monument to the craftsmanship of the Hill Country's German community.
Schmidt-Gold House
Fredericksburg, TX
German stonemason Lorenz Schmidt, a pioneer of the Adelsverein colony that founded Fredericksburg, built this house in the 1860s; he was also among the builders of the town's landmark Vereins Kirche. In 1902 businessman Jacob Gold, Sr. — founder of the Rheingold community — raised it to two full stories. Its stonework and design reflect the craftsmanship the German immigrants carried to the Texas Hill Country.
Maier-Alberthal Building
Fredericksburg, TX
Built around 1860, this sturdy German vernacular stone building was acquired in 1866 by Anton Maier, a native German who became a Fredericksburg merchant and held several Gillespie County offices. He passed it to his son-in-law August Alberthal, and over the decades the building served as a grocery, a soda water factory, an auto repair shop, and even a mission congregation's place of worship. Its thick stone walls reflect the building traditions the town's German settlers brought with them.