Site of Dobskyville
Weesatche, Goliad County, Texas
Marker Inscription
After immigrating from Prussia to Texas in 1846, Fredrick and Auguste Wilhelmine Dobsky moved here with their family in 1847 to 800 acres they had bought from J.H. Davis. Following Fredrick's death in 1873 his son Adolph inherited the land. Adolph and his wife Rosalia farmed and ranched and reared a family here. After Adolph's death in 1903 Adolph's son Henry opened a general store, and a school was built nearby in 1906. Dobsky expanded his general store to include a post office, gristmill, blacksmith shop, gasoline pump, saloon and the only telephone exchange in the area. A dance pavilion that the Dobskys added to their roadside property in 1909 served for many years as the site of numerous popular entertainment activities. Residents of the area farmed and ranched and gathered socially in one of Henry Dobsky's several establishments. The town of Dobskyville gradually declined after the 1930s depression and World War II. The pavilion was destroyed by a storm in 1942, and in 1948 the school closed. Henry Dobsky, described as the "general merchant, mayor, marshall and city attorney of Dobskyville," died in 1957. In 1969 the Dobsky home was dismantled. (1994)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Prussian immigrants Fredrick and Auguste Wilhelmine Dobsky settled here in 1847, and their descendants built a community around Henry Dobsky's general store—expanded over the years to include a post office, gristmill, blacksmith, saloon, and the area's only telephone exchange. A 1909 dance pavilion made Dobskyville a social hub until a 1942 storm destroyed it. The town declined after the Depression and World War II, its school closing in 1948 and its founding home dismantled in 1969.
Why it matters
Dobskyville reflects the German and Prussian immigrant wave that shaped rural Texas, building tight-knit farm communities that centered on a single family's crossroads store.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Fredrick Dobsky
- · Auguste Wilhelmine Dobsky
- · Adolph Dobsky
- · Henry Dobsky
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Weser
Weesatche, TX
Weser took its name from the immigrant ship that carried many German and Polish families to the Port of Galveston in the 19th century, some of whom pushed inland to settle Goliad County in the 1850s and 1860s. By 1900 the little farming and ranching town had a store, grist mill, cotton gin, school, saloon, telegraph office, lodge hall, and even a brass band, peaking at 153 residents in 1904. As younger generations left for the cities after the 1920s, Weser dwindled to a handful of people—a quiet emblem of the rural community it once was.
Peter Bluntzer
Meyersville, TX
Peter Bluntzer, an Alsatian immigrant, reached Texas around 1843 and settled at Coleto—present-day Meyersville—after his wagon overturned and injured his wife en route to Castroville. Devoted to his new home, he made two return trips to Alsace to recruit families to join him, and in 1859 he donated land for Sts. Peter and Paul Church, the first Catholic church in DeWitt County. The marker also recalls how his young daughter, taken by Indians, was found unharmed months later.
Site of the Home of Robert Justus Kleberg
Meyersville, TX
Robert Justus Kleberg, born in Germany in 1803, came to Texas in 1834 and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto in Captain Moseley Baker's company during the Texas Revolution. He went on to serve in the state legislature as a senator and lived in the Meyersville area until his death at Yorktown, Texas, in 1888. A Texas county was later named in his honor.
Meyersville
Meyersville, TX
Meyersville grew from an 1843 settlement opened by Peter Bluntzer, who drew fellow immigrants from the French border region of Alsace to the DeWitt County prairie. Named for early arrival Adolph Meyer, whose home hosted the post office from 1851, the community anchored itself with Lutheran and Catholic congregations and, in time, a public school. It became known for its turkey farms and reached its height around 1923.