August Ebers House

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the August Ebers House in Kendall County. Now settle in, because this one's about a man who built something meant to last, and by most measures, it did. August Ebers came over from Germany, and in 1860 he set to work on the east portion of what would become the family homestead.

Stone, naturally, because out here stone doesn't argue with you. He put up a kitchen, a big room, and up a narrow stair, a loft bedroom. Modest by some reckonin', but it was his, and it stood.

Then, before 1880, August added a west wing. The place was growin', keepin' pace with whatever life was growin' around it. Now here's where the story takes a hard turn.

In 1884, August Ebers was killed in a well accident. Just like that, the man who raised those stone walls was gone. But here's the thing about a house built solid, and a family built solid to match.

They kept on. His family continued operatin' the farm, and that house didn't go quiet. It became a social center.

Community dances were held there. Neighbors came from around the county, and on election days, that same stone building served as a polling place. A kitchen, a big room, a loft, and somehow it held all of that.

The home stayed in the Ebers family all the way until 1962. More than a hundred years after August first laid those east-wing stones. A German immigrant, a well, and a house full of music and votes and memory.

That's Kendall County for you.

What the marker says

In 1860 August Ebers, a German immigrant, built the east portion of this stone house. It included a kitchen, a "big room", and an upstairs loft bedroom. Before 1880 he added the west wing. Ebers was killed in a well accident in 1884, and his family continued operating the farm. The home became a social center where community dances were held, and served as a polling place during elections. The home remained in the family until 1962. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983