Duecker Family Homestead

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Duecker Family Homestead in Gillespie County. Now settle in, because this one's about roots. Deep ones.

The kind that get quarried right out of the ground you're standing on. August Duecker, Senior, was born in 1828, somewhere in Germany, and in 1852 he made his way to Texas. Now that's a commitment.

No test drive, no looking back. In 1854, he married Louise Feuge, and together they set about building a life. Then, in 1878, they did what any family with an eye on the future does.

They bought land. A large farm, right here in this area. That's not a modest word, large.

They weren't thinking small. But here's where the story gets its second chapter. Their son, August Junior, and his wife Lina, they saw something in that land too.

In 1886 they bought part of the homestead from the family. And then, two years later, in 1888, they built a house. Not a house you'd slap together quick, either.

This was a two-story limestone house, built with native stone quarried right from family land. Think about that. The very ground they owned gave them the walls they lived inside.

August Junior and Lina built that house with what the land gave them, and it grew over the years to accommodate the family as families have a way of needing. It's still standing today, a fine example of a rural German Texan homestead, which is exactly what it always was.

What the marker says

August Duecker, Sr. (1828-1894) came to Texas from his native Germany in 1852. He married Louise Feuge in 1854, and in 1878 they purchased a large farm in this area. Their son, August, Jr., and his wife Lina bought part of the homestead in 1886, and in 1888 built this house with native stone quarried from family land. Although enlarged over the years to accommodate the family, the two-story limestone house is a fine example of a rural German Texan homestead. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1993