Sisterdale
Sisterdale, Kendall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Abundant natural resources and a well-traveled pathway made this area one of the earliest frontier Hill Country settlements. The Pinto Trail, an ancient Native American road between Spanish missions in San Antonio and lands north, was a conduit here, crossing the Guadalupe and its local tributaries. Pre-settlement, Henry Karnes led a contingent of Galveston volunteers "to quell Indian disturbances upon our frontier" in October 1839. William R. Sisty was killed on that expedition by the accidental discharge of his rifle, and the nearby creeks were first named Sisty’s Creeks in his honor. The Adelsverein brought German settlers to Texas in the 1840s, and engineer Nicolaus Zink built his home here in 1847 on the 1280-acre William F. Wilson survey, becoming the first settler of what would become Sisterdale as well as the later-organized Blanco and Kendall Counties. The families of Ottmar (Ottomar) von Behr, George F. Holekamp, Julius Dresel, Carl Beseler, Ernst Kapp and others came soon after. Since nearby landmarks were named Bosom Hill, Sister Hills and Twin Sisters, von Behr suggested the settlers name their village Sisterdale, while also changing the name of the local creeks from Sisty's to Sisters. Von Behr became the first postmaster of Sisterdale on October 23, 1847. The community was not platted but instead a series of large farms populated by German immigrants, many of whom were part of the failed German revolution of 1848. Sisterdale was also one of the Hill Country's Latin settlements, so named because its well-educated citizens often read and debated in that language. 1854 visitor Frederick law Olmsted was impressed with their free-thinking intellects. Sisterdale remains a historic and scenic Hill Country locale. (2014)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Sisterdale sits along the old Pinto Trail, an ancient Native American route linking San Antonio's missions to lands north, at a crossing of the Guadalupe's tributaries. German settlers of the Adelsverein began arriving in the 1840s, and engineer Nicolaus Zink built the first home here in 1847; Ottmar von Behr, who named the village and became its first postmaster, drew the name from nearby Sister Hills. Populated by educated free-thinkers—many refugees of the failed 1848 German revolution—it became one of the Hill Country's 'Latin settlements,' impressing even the traveler Frederick Law Olmsted in 1854.
Why it matters
Sisterdale embodies the intellectual, liberal German immigration that gave the Texas Hill Country a distinctive free-thinking, anti-slavery character on the eve of the Civil War.
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Related people
- · Nicolaus Zink
- · Ottmar von Behr
- · Frederick Law Olmsted
Themes & tags
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