Schertz
Schertz, Guadalupe County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The first settlers in this community were German immigrants from the New Braunfels area who arrived in the 1840s in search of good farm land. The early economic base of the community was agricultural. The arrival of the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad about 1877 gave the town a link to San Antonio and enabled goods to be shipped to other parts of the state. Known in earlier days as Cibolo Pit and Cutoff, the name Schertz, honoring early area settler Sebastian Schertz (1822-1890), was adopted when the post office was established in 1882. (1984)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Schertz began in the 1840s when German immigrants from the New Braunfels area spread out in search of good farmland along Cibolo Creek. The community lived by agriculture until the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad arrived about 1877, linking it to San Antonio and wider markets. Once known as Cibolo Pit and Cutoff, the town took the name Schertz — for early settler Sebastian Schertz — when its post office opened in 1882.
Why it matters
The town traces the twin forces that built Central Texas: German immigrant farmers and the railroads that turned their settlements into market towns.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
The 1840s were a decade of great change in Texas. Texas spent most of that decade as an independent republic, joined the United States in 1845, and was eager for settlers. Thousands of German immigrants answered the call. Many came through organized colonization efforts, and in 1845 they founded New Braunfels on the Comal River, which became one of the anchors of German settlement in Central Texas.
New Braunfels grew quickly, and settlers soon spread out into the surrounding countryside looking for good farmland. The fertile ground along creeks like the Cibolo, between New Braunfels and San Antonio, drew families who wanted land of their own to work.
For decades, life here meant farming, and getting crops to market was slow and costly. That changed after the Civil War, when railroads began crossing Texas. The Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad reached this area about 1877. It tied farm communities like this one to San Antonio and to markets across the state.
People & events
The first families here were German immigrants who came out from the New Braunfels area in the 1840s. They were looking for good land, and they found it. They built a community based on farming, and for its first several decades the place lived by the rhythms of planting and harvest.
Among the early settlers in the area was Sebastian Schertz, who was born in 1822 and died in 1890. The marker tells us little else about him, and it is better not to make up details of his life. But his name stayed with the town, which says a good deal about the standing he had among his neighbors.
Before it was called Schertz, the settlement went by other names: Cibolo Pit and Cutoff. Then came the railroad, about 1877, linking the farms to San Antonio and to shipping routes across Texas. When a post office was set up in 1882, the community took a permanent name. It chose to honor Sebastian Schertz, and the name has stuck ever since.
Its place in the American story
Schertz's story brings together two of the great forces that shaped nineteenth-century America: immigration and the railroad. German immigrants were one of the largest groups to arrive in the United States in the 1800s, and Central Texas became one of their best-known places of settlement. Their farms, churches, and towns left a cultural mark on the region that you can still see today.
The railroad changed what those settlements could become. All across the country in the decades after the Civil War, a new rail line could turn a scattered farming community into a market town and make crops worth more because they could reach buyers. The Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio line was part of the network that connected Texas to the rest of the nation.
The naming of the town follows a national pattern too. Getting a post office often meant choosing an official name, and many American towns, like this one, took the name of a respected early settler. Their histories are quietly built into the map.
If you visit
Today Schertz is a busy, growing community in the San Antonio area, and it is easy to drive through without noticing its deep roots. The marker is a reminder that long before the subdivisions and highways, this was farm country settled by German families looking for good land along Cibolo Creek.
As you look around, keep the railroad in mind. The arrival of the tracks about 1877 is what tied this place to San Antonio and beyond, and rail still runs through the region today. Picturing the town's old names, Cibolo Pit and Cutoff, is a fun way to imagine what it looked like before it had a post office and an official identity.
Schertz fits easily into a road trip through the heart of German Texas. New Braunfels, where the first settlers came from, is close by, and San Antonio is just down the road. Following the route from the old German town to its farming offshoots and on to the big city is a good way to see how this part of Texas grew.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Attractions
- Morgan's Wonderland7.5 mi away · 5223 David Edwards Drive, San Antonio, TX
- Off-Road Adventure Ride7.5 mi away
- Morgan's Inspiration Island7.5 mi away · 5223 David Edwards Drive, San Antonio, TX
- Amazing Air8.7 mi away · 7702 North Interstate Highway 35, San Antonio, TX
- Green Acres Golf and Games13.5 mi away
- Blue Hole13.6 mi away
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Related people
- · Sebastian Schertz
Themes & tags
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