Wilke Cemetery at Albert, Texas
Albert, Gillespie County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This burial ground served the rural community of Albert (originally Martinsburg), which was named for Albert Luckenbach, who opened a new post office in the town in 1892. Blacksmith and rancher Friedrich August Wilke, Sr., a native of Germany, conveyed this property for cemetery use in 1907. The first burial was of Constantine A. Kleinert (1892 - 1894), who was reinterred from a ranch that year. Cemetery features include interior fencing, Masonic gravestones and extensive curbing. In 1980, the Wilke Cemetery of Albert, Texas Association formed. Today, the cemetery association continues to maintain the burial ground, which as a vestige of the Albert Community, serves as a reminder of the area’s early pioneers.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This burial ground served Albert—first called Martinsburg—a rural community renamed for Albert Luckenbach, who opened its post office in 1892. German-born blacksmith and rancher Friedrich August Wilke, Sr. deeded the land for a cemetery in 1907, its first burial a reinterred child who had died in 1894. With its interior fencing, Masonic stones, and extensive curbing, the cemetery endures as a vestige of the vanished Albert community.
Why it matters
As nearly all that remains of a once-active settlement, the cemetery preserves the memory of the German immigrant pioneers who built and named the Texas Hill Country's small rural communities.
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Related people
- · Friedrich August Wilke, Sr.
- · Albert Luckenbach
- · Constantine A. Kleinert
Themes & tags
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