HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Sattler Post Office

Sattler, Comal County, Texas

Marker Inscription

A founding colonist in New Braunfels, Wilhelm (William) Sattler later made his home in this area of Comal County and applied for a contract with the U.S. government for mail service. The Sattler post office was granted in 1856, with William's son Henry as first postmaster. Originally located in the Sattler house, it soon was relocated to this cabin, one of three built on the family homestead. Constructed of native juniper logs held together with simple saddle notching and chinking of straw and caliche mud, the cabin last housed the Sattler Post Office in 1880. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Wilhelm Sattler, a founding colonist of the German settlement at New Braunfels, later homesteaded in this part of Comal County and secured a federal mail contract. The Sattler post office opened in 1856 with his son Henry as first postmaster, soon moving into one of the family's juniper-log cabins — chinked with straw and caliche mud — where it served the community until 1880.

Why it matters

A backcountry post office was often a frontier community's first thread to the wider nation, and this one ties Texas's German immigrant settlement to the everyday work of building a mail network.

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Related people

  • · Wilhelm Sattler
  • · Henry Sattler

Themes & tags

TransportationImmigrationFrontier HistoryLandmark

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