Name: Castroville, Texas
Address: Castroville, TX

Castroville, TX RoadyGoat

Castroville, they call it "Little Alsace of Texas," and you feel that old-world charm as soon as you cross the Medina River. Henri Castro brought folks here back in '44, Alsatians mostly, and they built a town that still feels like stepping back in time. Agriculture's always been the lifeblood here, and you can see that in the fields surrounding the town. It’s a peaceful place, most of the time, though I remember the floods of '98 – that was something else, water everywhere, a real test for the community. But Castroville's also produced some folks who’ve made a name for themselves beyond Medina County.

Castroville, TX RoadyGoat

Castroville is a place rooted in a very specific vision. Back in 1844, Henri Castro, an empresario, brought families all the way from Alsace in France to settle this part of the Medina River valley. He'd been granted this land, and he saw the potential for a thriving community. The rich soil and the promise of a new life drew these families, and they set about building a town that felt like a little piece of home. Life wasn't easy, of course. Those early days meant hard work in the fields, establishing farms, and building homes from the local stone. But they persevered, and Castroville became known as "Little Alsace of Texas." The Alsatian heritage is still strong here, woven into the architecture and the very feel of the place. Though the town has seen its share of challenges – the devastating floods of 1998, for instance – it's always held onto its character, remaining a place where time seems to slow down just a little.

Castroville, TX RoadyGoat

Castroville, they call it "Little Alsace of Texas," and that name isn't just for show. Henri Castro, an empresario from France, brought families over in the 1840s, mostly from the Alsace region. He'd secured a land grant, and this spot, with the Medina River running through it, seemed just right. The Alsatians were farmers, and they knew how to work the land. Even today, you can see that agricultural heritage woven into the fabric of the town. While you might not see vineyards stretching across the hillsides like in Alsace, agriculture remains a cornerstone. The slightly higher elevation than San Antonio, and the river, provide the right conditions. Generations have kept those traditions alive, working the soil. You can feel it in the air, a sense of connection to the land, a quiet pride in the work. It’s a resilient place, Castroville. They've weathered floods, like the devastating one in '98, but the spirit of those original settlers endures, rooted deep in the soil.

Castroville - Little Alsace of Texas

1844

Founded in 1844 by Henri Castro, who recruited families from the Alsace region of France. Known as 'The Little Alsace of Texas.'

Dubuis House

1847

The two original rooms in this house were erected 1847 by Father Claude M. Dubuis, from Lyons, France, aided by Father Chazelle (who soon died of typhus). Father Dubuis, the first priest in Castro's colony, was captured twice by Comanches in 1847, but escaped unharmed. He later was Bishop of Texas. This house replaced a picket hut. It was first example of French-Alsatian architecture in Castroville. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966

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Medina County

1844

Medina County is immediately west of Bexar County in southwest Texas. Hondo, the county seat, is located near the geographic center of the county at 29°17' north latitude and 99°02' west longitude, 100 miles from the Mexican border at Eagle Pass. The Medina River, from which the county derives its name, traverses the northeastern portion of the county. The western part is drained by the Frio River. Medina County covers 1,331 square miles with elevations ranging from 1,995 feet in the northern Hill Country to as low as 635 feet in the southern region. The county is divided from east to west by the Balcones Escarpment , which separates the Edwards Plateau and Hill Country to the north from the Rio Grande Plains to the south. The climate is subtropical and subhumid; the summers are hot and dry. Annual rainfall averages 28.43 inches; average relative humidity is 81 percent at 6 A.M. and 49 percent at 6 P.M. The temperature averages a low of 42° F in the winter and a high of 96° in the summer. The annual growing season is 263 days. The northern Hill Country region has black waxy and limestone soils that support grasses, brush, junipers, mesquite, shinnery oaks, and live oaks. The larger southern region has sandy loam and clay soils that support bluestem, buffalo, and Arizona cottontop grasses, as well as post oak, live oak, and mesquite . Cypress and pecan trees are commonly found on the banks of rivers and creeks. Approximately 45 percent of the land in the county is considered prime farmland. Medina Lake Reservoir, completed in 1913 in the northeastern part of the county, furnishes impounded Medina River water for an extensive irrigation system throughout the eastern half of the county. Other man-made surface reservoirs have been built on Chacon, Parkers, Squirrel, Live Oak, and Elm creeks. Ranchers keep local stock tanks for water. Most subsurface or ground waters in Medina County are artesian; two major subsurface water belts are the Edwards Aquifer and the Carrizo Sand Aquifer. The county can be divided from north to south into three geological sections, the Lower Cretaceous of the Edwards Plateau, Lampasas Cut Plain, and the Comanche Plateau; the Upper Cretaceous of the Blackland Belt; and the older Tertiary of the Gulf Coast Plain. Mineral resources within the county include oil, gas, clay, sand, and gravel. High-quality clays for the production of bricks and tile are found in the D'Hanis area of western Medina County. Limestone, readily available and of good quality, is used extensively for buildings and hand-carved tombstones. Crushed limestone, flintstone, igneous pebbles, caliche, and clay are found in the county and are used widely as road materials. Bat guano is commercially mined in the limestone hills north of Hondo and marketed as a high-quality natural fertilizer. The guano mined at Ney's Cave, claimed to be one of the largest bat habitats in the world, was used in the manufacture of gun powder during the Civil War . Medina County is in an area that has been the site of human habitation for many thousands of years. Evidence of early man has been discovered at a site known as Scorpion Cave on the Medina River in the northeastern part of the county. Archeologists believe that ancestors of either Coahuiltecan or Tonkawa Indians occupied this cave continuously for several thousand years before the arrival of the first Europeans. The first Spaniard to set foot in the region was probably Alonso De León , governor of Coahuila, who passed through the area in 1689 en route to East Texas , and named the Medina River and Hondo and Seco creeks. Two years later Domingo Terán de los Ríos , the first provincial governor of Texas, tracked across southern Medina County, laying the foundation for El Camino Real (Old San Antonio Road ). The Upper Presidio Road, as the Camino Real was known in 1807, purposely skirted the Indian strongholds of the Hill Country beyond the Balcones Escarpment. Throughout the 1700s the are

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Medina River

1689

The Medina River rises in north and west prongs that originate in springs in the Edwards Plateau divide of northwest Bandera County and converge near Medina (at 29°48' N, 99°15' W). The river then flows southeast for 116 miles to its mouth, on the San Antonio River in south Bexar County (at 29°14' N, 98°24' W). The first European to see the river was Alonso De León , governor of Coahuila, who led his expedition across Texas in 1689 in pursuit of the French. De León noted in his diary that he named the stream for Pedro Medina, the early Spanish engineer whose navigation tables he was using in mapping his route through the wilderness with an astrolabe. On other old maps the river is designated variously as Río Mariano, Río San José, or Río de Bagres-Catfish River. For a time it was considered the official boundary between Texas and Coahuila and shown as running to the Gulf of Mexico, with the San Antonio River labeled as a tributary. Later the designations were reversed, and, along with Cibolo Creek, the Medina has been regarded as a tributary of the San Antonio. On August 18, 1813, bearers of the green flag of the Republican Army of the North , fighting to uphold the declared independence of Mexico from Spain, met defeat in the battle of Medina at the river southeast of San Antonio de Béxar. Hundreds of rebel troops were killed by forces under Spanish general Joaquín de Arredondo . At the same site on March 2, 1836, Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna paused in his march from the Rio Grande in order to gather forces for the final approach to Bexar and the engagement with Texans in the Alamo . Diarist José Enrique de la Peña mentions resting at the river, the making of plans, and carrying out such tasks as assigning horses to dragoons. In the midst of the excitement over impending battle, Peña still took note of "the little stream whose banks were rich with pecan trees." A decade later, the same stream, with its gallery of pecan and cypress, caught the attention of European empresario Henri Castro as he negotiated contracts to bring colonists to the new Republic of Texas . Castro chose a site at a bend of the river to lay out a town to serve outlying farms of immigrants from Alsace and nearby German states. The first band of colonists, though beset with many difficulties, arrived in 1844 to begin building Castroville. Efforts on the part of Castro and his principal partner, A. F. Louis Huth , continued for some years to recruit additional groups and individuals to the Medina valley. With success made difficult by the alternation of drought and flood typical of the Balcones Fault zone of Texas, Castro is reportedly the first to have envisioned a dam on the box canyon of the river to impound floodwater for irrigation of the fertile fields below. Near the site of the later Medina Dam, an earthen dam was built in 1850, which was soon replaced by a stone structure providing power for a downriver mill. From San Antonio and the outpost of Castroville, enterprising small bands of shingle makers and charcoal burners began working their way up the river, taking advantage of abundant timber and the protection from Indian danger provided by the Texas Rangers . There were several families camping on the river in the late 1840s at the horseshoe bend later chosen as the townsite of Bandera. Arriving in 1854 was a band of Mormons who had traveled to Texas after breaking away from the Utah-bound main group. They settled at Fredericksburg before moving on to the Medina; the group moved again from Bandera and finally established itself downriver at Mountain Valley. Till the death of leader Lyman Wight , the group remained intact and engaged in the manufacture of lumber and furniture. In 1852 John James , Charles Demontel , and John Herndon formed a partnership for the purpose of building a cypress-lumber mill and laying out a town "on the Medina above Castroville." Their plan, implemented the following year, involved a site at the dee

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General Wool and the Chihuahua Road

1846

GENERAL WOOL AND THE CHIHUAHUA ROAD In 1846, General John Ellis Wool amassed an army of 3,400 troops in San Antonio to invade Chihuahua, Mexico. Departing from Camp Crockett crossing the Medina River and passing through Castroville and Quihi, Wool’s plans changed after receiving orders to support general Zachary Taylor’s forces in Saltillo, Mexico. General Wool’s original path to Chihuahua mirrored Mexican General Adrian Woll’s 1842 retreat to Mexico. Most of this route became the Chihuahua Road. Commercial trade in Castroville increased due to the town’s central location along the route, and it remained a major thoroughfare for westward travel because of its plentiful water for horses and mules. 					(2014)

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Castroville, Texas

Music in Castroville

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History of Castroville

Castroville, TX RoadyGoat

Castroville, TX RoadyGoat

Castroville, TX RoadyGoat

Castroville - Little Alsace of Texas

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General Wool and the Chihuahua Road

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