Oldenburg

The land in this area was part of a Mexican land grant awarded to Nathaniel Townsend in 1838, and after portions were sold to a succession of owners, August Heintze and Gus Steenken, both natives of Oldenburg, Germany, founded a community here in 1885 and named it for their hometown. Most settlers were immigrants from Germany and Bohemia, and at its height Oldenburg included homes, farms, stores, saloons, a cotton gin, tin shop, doctors' office, blacksmith shop, post office, church, dance halls, and schools. The first school, the German and Bohemian Oldenburg School, was founded in 1898 and was succeeded in 1922 by Oldenburg Common School District No. 5. A separate school for black students opened about 1930, and by 1944 both schools had been consolidated with the Fayetteville School District. Descendants of the early German and Bohemian settlers still live in the vicinity.

Texas · United States