HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Sebastopol

Seguin, Guadalupe County, Texas

Marker Inscription

This Greek Revival house was built in 1854-56 by Joshua W. Young with unreinforced, load-bearing walls of cast-in-place limecrete, an early form of concrete made of lime, sand, and gravel. Joseph Zorn, Jr., mayor of Seguin from 1890 to 1910, bought the house in 1874 and it remained in his family until 1961. One of many concrete structures built in Seguin, this is an important surviving example of early concrete technology in the southwest. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1964

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Built in 1854–56 by Joshua W. Young, this Greek Revival house rose from an early form of concrete called limecrete—unreinforced, load-bearing walls cast from lime, sand, and gravel. Joseph Zorn, Jr., who served as mayor of Seguin from 1890 to 1910, bought the house in 1874, and it stayed in his family until 1961. It stands among the town's many concrete structures as a notable survivor of early concrete technology in the Southwest.

Why it matters

Sebastopol is a rare early example of concrete construction in America, marking Seguin's unusual place in the history of building technology.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related people

  • · Joshua W. Young
  • · Joseph Zorn, Jr.

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

Henry Troell

Seguin, TX

A young immigrant from Wichmannshausen, Germany, Henry Troell settled near Seguin before 1860 and, after service in the Confederate Army, parlayed a freighting business into a web of local enterprises. His dam and grist mill on this site grew into something remarkable for a small Texas town — he added hydroelectric generation and, in the 1890s, gave the city its first municipal water and electric systems.

Phoenix Saloon

New Braunfels, TX

Built in 1871 and operating under various names before becoming the Phoenix Saloon in 1895, this New Braunfels landmark paired a lively barroom with a back-room café. There proprietor William Gebhardt served a stew seasoned with his own blend of herbs and dried chilies — 'tampico dust,' often credited as the first chili powder — before moving to San Antonio in 1896 to manufacture his Eagle Brand. The saloon, unusually welcoming to ladies, closed under Prohibition in 1918 and reopened as a saloon a century later.

First Patented Wire Fence

New Braunfels, TX

Virginia-born planter William H. Meriwether ran a sawmill, cotton gin, and gristmill on this site — and, as a farmer, understood the desperate need for cheap, durable fencing. His answer was "snake wire" fencing, which combined smooth wire and board to resist the temperature swings that had wrecked earlier designs, earning U.S. Patent No. 10,211 on November 8, 1853, the first wire-fence patent in the country. Though never widely adopted, it figured in later patent battles before Meriwether sold his mill and moved to Tennessee.

Joseph Sonka House

Seguin, TX

Joseph Sonka left Czech-speaking Central Europe and reached Seguin in 1878, bringing a stonemason's skill to a growing Texas town. He ran a brickyard and cotton gin, and beginning in 1881 he spent more than a decade building this Italianate-trimmed brick home from his own bricks, finishing it the year he married Annie Klicka. For two years the house even served as a community hospital before settling into generations of Sonka family life.