Renken Cemetery
Castroville, Medina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
German native Henry Renken created this cemetery in 1876 upon the death of his wife, Lissette (Kueck) Renken. She was buried on property owned by Gerhard Ihnken that Renken had sold to him in 1874. Renken was an active contributor to the Castroville Community, where he was a member of the Masonic Lodge and served as a city alderman and as mayor. Although he later married Helene Thieu Borchers, he was buried here, next to his first wife, when he died in 1885. Records show that the Renkens’ daughter, Louisa Renken Tschirhart, was also buried at the site, although no grave marker remains. The property was sold to the city of Castroville by a later owner in 1968, and Castroville Regional Park now surrounds the diminutive burial ground.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
German immigrant Henry Renken opened this small burial ground in 1876 to lay his first wife, Lissette, to rest on land he had earlier sold to a neighbor. A pillar of the Alsatian-founded town of Castroville, Renken served as alderman and mayor and belonged to the Masonic Lodge before being buried here beside Lissette in 1885. The diminutive graveyard now sits surrounded by Castroville Regional Park.
Why it matters
The plot preserves the memory of the German and Alsatian settlers who built Castroville, and of a civic leader who chose to rest among family rather than in grander ground.
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Related people
- · Henry Renken
- · Lissette Kueck Renken
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Ihnken Family Cemetery
Castroville, TX
Early Castroville colonists—Dutch and German immigrants who arrived on Henri Castro's ships in the 1840s—rest in this small family plot, where Marie Becker Ihnken was buried in 1847. Her son Gerhard, a leading citizen, farmed vast lands and ran a sawmill, store, and orchard, and is credited with bringing the area's first reaper and binder. One of Medina County's oldest cemeteries, it holds eight marked Ihnken graves and, by tradition, a freedman who worked for the family; it has stayed inactive since 1950 to protect unmarked graves.
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Built in 1849 of local limestone and cypress, this thick-walled building shows the Alsatian architecture that immigrant colonists brought to Castroville. It began as the home, store, and post office of Swiss merchant Caesar Monod, and by the 1860s John and Rowena Vance had added a store wing and a second story of guest rooms. With a nearby bath house and kitchen, the Vance Hotel offered rest to travelers on the Eagle Pass–San Antonio Road.
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