Members of the Luckenbach family and other German immigrants moved here from Fredericksburg in the 1850s, settled along Grape Creek, and soon established a school for their children. The Grape Creek Post Office operated briefly after 1858 with William Luckenbach as first postmaster. Later settlers included August Engel, who served as first postmaster when the post office was reestablished here in 1886 under the name of Luckenbach. In 1970, John Russell ‘Hondo’ Crouch and others bought the town center and promoted its rustic atmosphere.