Arnold-Rauch-Brandt Homestead

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Arnold-Rauch-Brandt Homestead out in Comal County. Now, some houses just sit on the land. This one grew up with it.

Back in 1852, Gottlieb Arnold and Maria Koch Arnold arrived here. German immigrants, the both of them. And they didn't just pass through.

They stayed, they built, and they raised nine children in what started as a single room made of hand-chiseled limestone and hand-hewn timber, likely gathered from sources right nearby. Think about that for a moment. One room.

Nine children. Gottlieb Arnold, born in 1808, and Maria Koch Arnold, born in 1825, apparently believed in building things to last, whether we're talking about stone walls or a family. By 1883, that one room had grown into six.

An addition went up, the homestead filled out, and somewhere along the way a limestone barn and a smokehouse joined the picture. The same patient hands that shaped the original stone were part of a tradition that just kept going. Gottlieb passed in 1879, Maria in 1900, but the property did not pass out of the family.

It stayed in Arnold family hands for more than a hundred and fifty years. More than a hundred and fifty years. That's not just inheritance.

That's a statement. What began as one room of chiseled limestone in 1852 became a six-room homestead, a barn, a smokehouse, and a living reminder of the early German settlers who put down roots in this part of Texas and simply refused to let go.

What the marker says

This homestead was built in 1852 with an addition in 1883 by German immigrants Gottlieb Arnold (1808-1879) and Maria Koch Arnold (1825-1900) who settled here in 1852 and raised nine children. It features hand-chiseled limestone and hand-hewn timber, likely gathered from nearby sources. The homestead evolved from a one-room structure to six rooms and now includes the house, a limestone barn and smokehouse. This property passed down to Arnold family descendants for more than 150 years and is a reminder of the early German settlers of the area. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2016