Site of New Bern Church, School, and Cemetery
Taylor, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Swiss and German immigrants who settled here in the early 1890s named their settlement for Bern, Switzerland. In 1892 the newly organized St. John Lutheran Church built a sanctuary which also housed the New Bern School here on 2.5 acres donated by Daniel Murphy. The New Bern Cemetery (0.1 mi.E of this site) was established in 1895 on 3 acres acquired from Friedrich and Anna Stauffer. Though a new church building (1912) and schoolhouse (1920) were moved to the nearby community of Wuthrich Hill in 1949 the cemetery continues to serve the community.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Swiss and German immigrants who settled here in the early 1890s named their community for Bern, Switzerland. In 1892 the newly organized St. John Lutheran Church built a sanctuary that also housed the New Bern School, on land donated by Daniel Murphy, and a cemetery followed in 1895. Though the church and school buildings were eventually moved to nearby Wuthrich Hill in 1949, the New Bern Cemetery still serves the community.
Why it matters
The vanished settlement records how immigrant families planted transplanted European names, faiths, and schools across Central Texas farmland.
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Related people
- · Daniel Murphy
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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