HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Tewes House

Marion, Guadalupe County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Built in the 1870s, this limestone, masonry and stucco house was the home of Carl August Edward Tewes, his wife Texanna Wooten Newton, and their children. Tewes immigrated from Germany in 1854, was a Civil War veteran, became a merchant in Guadalupe County, and served as postmaster in New Berlin for 26 years. The house remained in the Tewes family until 1976. It features a central hall plan and is an example of an early pioneer house. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1996

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

This limestone and stucco house, built in the 1870s, was the home of Carl August Edward Tewes, a German immigrant who arrived in 1854, served in the Civil War, and became a Guadalupe County merchant and longtime New Berlin postmaster. Its central-hall plan marks it as a characteristic early Texas pioneer dwelling, and it stayed in the Tewes family for a full century until 1976. The house embodies the German immigrant experience that shaped south-central Texas.

Why it matters

German settlers like Tewes transformed the Texas Hill Country and its river valleys, weaving Old World craft and enterprise into a young American state.

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Related people

  • · Carl August Edward Tewes
  • · Texanna Wooten Newton

Themes & tags

ImmigrationWestward ExpansionFrontier HistoryHome

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