Vandenburg
Hondo, Medina County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located on the banks of Verde Creek (Arroyo Verde), Vandenburg, founded in 1846, was one of the colonies established by Empresario Henri Castro. Immigrants settled nearby and began farming. They dug a trench eight feet wide by six feet deep to protect them and keep their cattle nearby. Worship services conducted by visiting ministers were held in homes or under an arbor. Drought in 1847-49 caused crops to fail. Many settlers died from cholera. Most families moved to other communities by the 1860s. Two cemeteries are among the few physical remnants of Vandenburg. (1996)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded on Verde Creek in 1846, Vandenburg was one of the Texas colonies planted by empresario Henri Castro to settle European immigrants on the Medina County frontier. The newcomers farmed and dug a defensive trench, worshipping in homes and under a brush arbor, but drought in the late 1840s ruined their crops and cholera thinned their ranks. Most families had scattered by the 1860s, leaving two cemeteries as nearly the only trace of the town.
Why it matters
Castro's colonies brought Alsatian and other European immigrants directly into the Texas frontier, and Vandenburg's fate shows how quickly disease and drought could erase such hopeful settlements.
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Related people
- · Henri Castro
Themes & tags
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