What a great visit to Fredericksburg. Most Texans are very familiar with historic Fredericksburg in central Texas. Fredericksburg has fabulous restaurants, shops, wineries, breweries, excellent lodging options, and museums.
The community is a four-hour drive from Houston, an hour and a half drive from Austin, and only a six-and-a-half-hour drive from Oklahoma City. If you are not from Texas or have never spent at least an afternoon in Fredericksburg, I recommend adding this town to your must-visit list.
Fredericksburg is the perfect location for a girls’ weekend, romantic couples getaway, shopping extravaganza, winery tour, camping, or glamping weekend.
Maypole
Also, there are more than 400 festivals and celebrations held in this outstanding German town each year. I can almost guarantee there is at least one festival among them that you and your family and friends would love to experience.
One of the great things about Fredericksburg is that it is effortless to get around town. You can comfortably walk through the historic downtown area, stopping to visit shops and restaurants along the way. I enjoy strolling in and out of the downtown shops each time we visit.
Brief history
German immigrants came to Texas seeking a better way of life and economic opportunities and settled in Fredericksburg in 1846. After these adventurous immigrants got to Texas, an extremely challenging journey, each settler was given a lot in town and ten acres of farmland.
Two years later, the newly formed Fredericksburg was a flourishing community despite an epidemic that killed as many as 150 settlers. The Meusebach-Comanche Treaty between the private citizen settlers and the Penateka Comanche Tribe solved and ended Indian attacks, further allowing the town to prosper.
Interesting fact: The Meuseach-Comanche Treaty is one of the few unbroken treaties and is unusual because the government was not involved. The result of the treaty is that the Comanche were able to keep their hunting grounds, and Fredericksburg became free from Comanche raids.
During the 1930s, Fredericksburg grew into a vacation and tourist center. The Gillespie County Historical Society, formed in 1934, has worked to preserve the history and German traditions of early Fredericksburg and increase its popularity as a tourist destination.
These are just bits and pieces of the remarkable history that makes Fredericksburg a unique and trendy community today. The City of Fredericksburg’s website contains much more detailed historical information.
What did we see and do in Fredericksburg?
Each time we visit Fredericksburg, we manage to not repeat the same activities. For example, we stayed in an RV park this trip, not a hotel. We visited museums we had not seen before and tried new restaurants. It was a completely new adventure in a city we thought we were familiar with already.
Here is where our adventures took us this time around.
Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park Campground
We had hoped to stay at one of the Harvest Host locations in the area; however, our onboard RV generator “went on holiday,” and we required electricity hook up. For that reason, we stayed at this great RV Park just three miles outside of town.
This RV park is enormous, has full hook-ups, welcomes pets, and is in a beautiful park. We were even able to ride our bikes throughout the park. Steve and I enjoyed a truly comfortable stay here and most likely will return for another visit.
Pioneer Museum
Pioneer Museum is a village of 10 historical buildings. Each building is a restored piece of Fredericksburg’s history and reflects the town’s early life. An introductory video and descriptive audio explanations are triggered as you walk into each building.
One of the buildings that interested me the most was the Weber Sunday House. I had no idea what a Sunday House might be. These are the houses the settlers would stay in, sometimes just for the day, when business, shopping, or church brought them to town from their outlying farms.
Remember, each settler was given a lot in town and ten acres of farmland. These small, simple, and sparingly furnished Sunday Houses were their town lots.
A Fire Department Museum is another of the buildings at the Pioneer Museum.
The White Oak School, originally about 15 miles outside of town, is preserved as part of this Museum. The Friends of Gillespie County Country Schools organization works to preserve the history and traditions of the many country schools in Gillespie County.
On our next trip to Fredericksburg, we hope to explore the Gillespie County Country Schools Driving Trail and visit some of these historical schools throughout the County.
Other buildings that make up the Pioneer Museum include a log cabin, a farm home, smokehouse, barn, bathhouse, and an heirloom furnished house. A fantastic amount of history is within these buildings. Imagine the stories those walls could tell!
We always enjoy visiting these Pioneer Villages. Each of these villages tell the stories of our ancestors and give us a little peek into life before it became so complicated. Just one of our favorite Pioneer Villages we’ve visited in the past is in one in Corsicana, Texas.
Vereins-Kirche
The original Vereins Kirche was an essential community building in Fredericksburg. It was built in 1847 and served as the school, church, and a place where the community could meet together. The town decided to demolish the original Vereins Kirche around 1896 after it fell into disrepair.
A replica Vereins Kirche, constructed in 1935, has also had more than one function. The new building has been the Pioneer Memorial Library and is currently a terrific and very informative museum. Vereins Kirche means Society Church.
Fort Martin Scott
This historic site, managed by the Texas Rangers Heritage Center, was the Texas frontier’s first US Army outpost. The US Army operated this Fort from 1848 until 1853, and the Confederate Army was even in occupation here briefly. An original and restored garrison building and other replica buildings are displayed here.
Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site – National Museum of the Pacific War
The famed World War II Pacific War hero, Admiral Chester Nimitz, was born in Fredericksburg and is honored at the Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site – National Museum of the Pacific War.
Multiple exhibits are on display throughout this extensive and very detailed Museum. Featured exhibits are the Pearl Harbor Exhibit and The Doolittle Raid Exhibit. A Medal of Honor Exhibit and an Iwo Jima Exhibit are a few others to be seen here.
So much to see! All exhibits are labeled, numbered, and have directional arrows, but, frankly, I was a bit directionally challenged here. Just stay close to your companions, so you don’t get lost. I do highly recommend a visit. It will take a little bit of time to understand and soak in all the information presented.
Other historical buildings
The 1885 Gillespie County Jail in Fredericksburg
Old St. Mary’s Church
Wineries
The city of Fredericksburg and the large area surrounding it is well-known for their spectacular and many wineries. The number of wineries in Gillespie County alone totals at least 50. You can build an entire trip around visiting these wineries.
Professional wine tours are plentiful and offer many options to visit and sample wines from the area. Oh! I believe that sounds like another trip to Fredericksburg for us. We did visit one winery on our way out of town, but more about that later.
