Robertson County - TXGenWeb

TXGenWeb Robertson County Books & Master's Thesis

H I S T O R I C N E W B A D E N T O U R

A Tour Of Places, Buildings, & Homes With Architectural & Historical Significance In New Baden

Sketches & Photographs

Names & Descriptions Of Places, Buildings, & Houses
With Architectural & Historical Significance

	(l) Parade passing Schultz house; (r) front of store.
	Historic New Baden Photos Photographs on left & right from History Of Robertson County, pp. 364 & 368. Photos on top & bottom rows from Schultz Family Collection.
	(l) side view of Schultz house; (r) view of store from Schulz shed.

March 1927 Sanborn Digital Fire Insurance Map Of Downtown New Baden

August 1940 Sanborn Digital Fire Insurance Map Of Downtown New Baden

DOUBLE CLICK SMALL PHOTOS TO ENLARGE!

New Baden Collection
Lots of information about New Baden & its early Deutsch-speaking settlers is online at this site.
New Baden Collection

New Baden Historic Marker
31 03 03 N / -96 25 46 W,
Texas Historic Marker reads: "Founded by German, Prussian, & Swiss immigrants in 1881, New Baden was named for the German town of Baden-Baden. The immigrants built a central building known as the Colony House to provide lodging for families while homes were under construction. Located on the route of the International & Great Northern Railroad, the town soon boasted stores, churches, a school, and a railroad station. Most of the residents were farmers and the economy was based on agriculture. Population declined in the 1940s, but New Baden remains a viable rural community."

New Baden Train Depot
The old New Baden train depot was sold by the Schultz family in 1999 and moved to San Marcos. It has begun a new life as the "New Baden Bakery" as part of Centerpoint Station. This retail enterprise is on the right-hand side of Interstate 35 past the town of San Marcos (when heading towards San Antonio) and just before the Prime Outlets. Take the Centerpoint Road exit (exit 200). The old depot is located at 29 49 43 N / -97 59 07 W . The three color photographs were taken shortly after the depot was moved and before it was converted into a bakery.

New Baden Train Depot (continued)
These two pictures show what the New Baden Depot looks like today in its refurbished form. Originally built by the International & Great Northern Railroad, the New Baden Depot was a freight and passenger depot combination with clipped gables and 6/6 light windows.
THC Survey

Schultz Store / New Baden General Store
Opened in 1884 and operating out of this building since 1906, the New Baden General Store Store is still operating in 2003 as a grocery store (selling locally grown fresh produce), meat market, deli counter, hamburger and short-order grill (with several tables for seating), feed store, hardware store, & gas station. Operated for years as "Mrs. E. Schultz & Son", the store was run by the Schultz family for many, many years. The original building is a one-story structure with rolled tin canopy and brick parapet.
THC Survey

Early Schultz Store Photographs
An early photograph taken outside the Schultz Store, complete with Model T Fords and horse-drawn wagons. Also shown is an early photograph taken inside the Schultz Store.
History Of Schultz Store In New Baden Essay By Kevin Schultz

Schultz Store Trade Tokens
Large heavy brass trade token, 35 mm diameter. Token reads:
"Mrs. E. Schultz & Son, New Baden, Texas, Good For $1.00 In Merchandise"

Schultz Store Bank Tokens
Bank token reads:
"Paul Schultz Bank, New Baden, Texas, Good For 10 In Merchandise"

Schultz Store Shed
The now dilapidated Schultz Store Shed, across the street from the store, stored many large items, including caskets, cars (Model T Fords as well as Star Cars), furniture, horse carriages and wagons, as well as assorted other items.

Schultz Store Agricultural Buildings
Across Farm Road 1940 are the Schultz Store's agricultural buildings, which included feed lots and holding pens for hogs, cows, & horses, as well as a ramp to load animals and produce directly onto waiting railroad cars. (Three photographs have been spliced together to capture the positions of all six of the buildings in one shot.) On the day after the agricultural buildings photographs were taken, an errant spark from an intended control-burn fire ignited the old wooden barn to the extreme right. It was quickly engulfed in flames and was totally destroyed in a matter of minutes.

Schultz Houses
Three different houses have been built by the Schultz family in a spot directly across Farm Road 1940 from the Schultz Store.

Rabe Store
The old Rabe store is directly across the street from the Schultz Store. The store's owner, John Gerhard Rabe III, had a crow in a cage that delighted young and old visitors alike. Mr. Rabe also had a gristmill in the back of the store where he ground corn brought in by farmers and their families. He'd often keep a portion of the cornmeal produced as his fee. At present, Fred Hanhart Jr. has a woodworking studio in the old Rabe store building.

New Baden Community Center
The New Baden Community Center is the site of the monthly New Baden Jamboree, which takes place on the first Saturday night of each month. A school was started in the community of New Baden soon after it was settled in 1882. The first school was held in the Colony House which stood near the present day railroad. As the settlement grew, it became necessary to expand the school. A group of twenty-five eligible voters petitioned the Robertson County Commissioners Court to establish a New Baden School District. This school district was established in 1901. The site of the present day building was purchased in 1909 for a sum of $90 and a small building was erected and ready for classes in 1910. (This early school house was located where the current community center's parking lot now is - in the foreground of this picture.) The present structure was built and school classes began in 1931. Mrs. Gladyne Bolton Lumpkin taught in this building from 1931 until 1941. School continued in the present day building until 1955, at which time the New Baden School District was consolidated with the Franklin Independent School District. The building is now used for a variety of purposes as the New Baden Community Center.

Peters' Gin
Peters' gin was located to the left and next to the railroad tracks when heading towards Franklin from New Baden. Farmers used to line their wagons up & sometimes wait until the early morning hours to leave their cotton for ginning. Mr. Peters had a tank where waiting farmers could water their horses and mules. Broken pieces of the old stone mashing wheels are all that remain today of the old gin.

New Baden Water Tower
Early settlers built a water tower and pumping station on a hill just outside of New Baden. A well was dug and connected to a windmill to draw the water out of the ground. This water was then stored in the container on the top of tall stilts. Pipes fed the water collected in the tower to the new community at the bottom of the hill. The rusting container at the top of the tower is barely visible in the clump of growth. The faded 1980 photograph (left) shows a little more detail of the old water tower. The pumping station is the building in the foreground with the rusted tin roof and the windmill derrick that has lost its blades.

William Robert "Bob" & Ida L. Marshall House
Across the road from the water tower.

John Gerhard Sr. & Emilie Helene Charlotte (Becker) Rabe House
Up the road from the water tower as the road turns to the right by the pine trees. Later became the Davis family home.

Andreas & Katie (Sauer) Pfistner House
Down the road that veers off to the right before the New Baden Cemetery turn-off, right next to the road before it makes a sharp right-hand turn.

Willis Claude & Annie (Brunette) Pipkin House
On the right between the old Frank Brunette place and the New Baden Cemetery turn-off.

Phillip David Sr. & Hattie Sarah "Belle" (Dodds) Brunette House
To the right on a hill when going from New Baden to Easterly.

Jakob & Marie Catharina (Luedemann) Dieckmann Place
Typical of many of the houses built on the Texas plains in the late 1800s, the Jakob Dieckmann home featured a “dog-trot” – a central, open hallway that separated two distinct portions of the house. This dog-trot was accessible to all – dogs, kids, adults, and an occasional skunk or snake. It was enclosed on two sides – by the wall it shared with the living room and by the wall it shared with the bedrooms. Covered by the same roof that sheltered the rest of the house, this hallway was exposed to the elements on two ends. While wind, rain, dust, sleet, and snow found their way into this exposed hallway, gentle summer breezes provided badly needed natural air-conditioning and relief from the sweltering Texas summer heat. Both sides of the dog-trot had doors that opened into various parts of the house. As you approached the front of the house, the living room and kitchen were to the south on the right. To the left, there were two bedrooms. At the north end of the house, there was a door that led out of the bedrooms onto a small porch with a pitched roof with ornamental carving. This door provided additional ventilation; the small porch was used for sleeping when weather permitted.
Dieckmanns In America

Fred & Agnes Hanhart/Fred William Sr. & Elsie Marie (Sauer) Hanhart Place
First Picture (left). The front of the old Hanhart place where first Fred & Agnes Hanhart and later Fred William Sr. & Elsie Marie Sauer Hanhart raised their families is barely visible through the brush that is growing in their old front yard. Second Picture (left). The side of the house is more clearly visible. The ground in this area used to be kept free of any growth and was a white sugary sand. Third Picture (left). Part of the old log barn that was to the rear of the house is still visible. Chickens roosted and laid eggs along some of the outer walls. In the two pictures to the right, a narrow lane separates the main house from the spot where a smaller house once stood. This smaller house was first occupied by Agnes Hanhart after her husband Fred's death and then by Emma Annie Dieckmann Sauer Brunette (Elsie Marie Sauer Hanhart's mother) in her later years. Although Mrs. Brunette died in 1961, the flower garden she lovingly took care of is evidenced by the Easter lily that still blooms (40+ years later) in what was once her front yard.

New Baden Cemetery
31 03 27 N / - 96 24 56 W,
The wrought-iron entrance with inscription was created by local artisan Hardy Boyd for the New Baden Cemetery Association. Several of the headstones in the old section of the cemetery are ornately carved white marble. Many contain inscriptions in German. The old section of the cemetery is covered with mature cedar trees. It is a fragrant and shady respite from the summer heat. The new section is covered in bluebonnets in the spring.

Koch-Adlof Cemetery
31 03 58 N / - 96 23 05 W,
(tombstones remain but inactive for past 100 years).

Brown Cemetery
31 02 56 N / - 96 25 22 W,
(tombstones remain but inactive for past 100 years)

Camp Creek Cemetery
31 02 13 N / - 96 21 18 W,
THC Marker

Mount Pleasant Cemetery
31 01 22 N / - 96 25 23 W,

Thomas Lafatte & Allie Dora (Cazey) Day Place
Down the road that veers off to the right before the New Baden Cemetery turn-off. Not visible from the road, the old dog-trot home has been remodeled into a camphouse and moved beside a lake on the original property. The original location was where the new brick house sits today.

Original New Baden Cemetery
31 02 59 N / - 96 25 36 W, Map
(lost)

Frank C. & Martha Mattie (Dieckmann) Sauer House

Frank & Annie Marie (Bersch) (Benndorf) Brunette House - GONE
When going from New Baden towards Camp Creek, after the road makes a sharp left, there's a dirt road to the right. Turn right, up on the hill to the left stood the old two-story Frank Brunette house.

Did you find the Robertson County TXGenWeb Project helpful or useful?
You can vote for it or another TXGenWeb county for
County of the Month

Back to homepage

State Coordinator: Gina Heffernan

Copyright � 2014-present by Jane Keppler. This information may be used by individuals for their own personal use, libraries and genealogical societies. Commercial use of this information is strictly prohibited without prior written permission from Jane Keppler. If material is copied, this copyright notice must appear with the information and please email me and let me know. Neither the Site Coordinators nor the volunteers assume any responsibility for the information or material given by the contributors or for errors of fact or judgment in material that is published at this website.