DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Esser's Crossing at Wesson, out in Comal County. Now, if you were rolling a wagon northwest out of New Braunfels in the mid-1800s, you had one serious problem on your hands — the Guadalupe River. She didn't care about your schedule, your oxen, or the goods you were haulin' up toward Fredericksburg.
But about 19 miles northwest of New Braunfels, along a wagon trail called Fredericksburg Road, there was a place where the river bottom went solid rock and the water ran shallow enough that pioneers could coax their ox-drawn wagons and horse-drawn carriages across without losing everything to the current. That was Esser's Crossing at Spring Branch — one of the first safe Guadalupe River road crossings, and it served that purpose for almost one hundred fifty years. As early as 1850, folks were calling this spot Henderson Crossing.
But the name that stuck came later, with a man worth knowing about. Charles Esser, Senior, was a German immigrant born in 1827. He settled in this area in 1858 and set up a public way-station along the route.
Now, Charles Esser was not a man who did one thing. He was a judge. A justice of the peace.
A school teacher. And on top of all that, he was instrumental in getting a postal station established in the area — a station that went by the name of Wesson. Charles Beierle, Senior, served as postmaster there between 1893 and 1907.
Between Esser's crossing, his way-station, and that post office, this stretch of the Guadalupe was becoming a real hub of frontier commerce and community life. Of course, the river didn't always cooperate. When the crossing flooded — and it flooded — teamsters had to pick up and reroute.
They'd head to Fischer's Store, or swing out along Devil's Backbone, or take Purgatory Road, all just to reach the 1887 Faust Street Bridge back in New Braunfels. That is a significant detour, friend. You say Purgatory Road and you start to understand how teamsters felt about flood season.
So by 1903, the public and Comal County officials had had just about enough of that particular inconvenience. They started talking about a second bridge — a high-water crossing over the Guadalupe. In 1904, the County Commissioners Court made their choice: Esser's Crossing would get the bridge.
And once that bridge went up, agricultural products came rolling in from as far away as Johnson City. The style they chose was a wrought iron Whipple truss bridge, a popular design of the time, and it was completed in 1904. Now, this bridge had some rules.
It was built for one-way traffic, and it posted a sign — no fast driving, no fast riding, and no more than ten head of livestock on the bridge at any one time. You can picture the arguments that generated. The bridge kept right on serving the area, and in 1923 it was designated an official United States Geological Station.
Area residents stepped up as gauge attendants, recording annual data on the river. That old 1904 wrought iron bridge had gone from pioneer crossing to county infrastructure to an instrument of science. But rivers outlast iron, and time outlasts nearly everything.
The 1904 bridge was eventually condemned and removed in 1979. Almost a hundred and fifty years of crossings — by oxen, by carriage, by foot, by automobile — and the Guadalupe just kept on runnin'. Some crossings, it turns out, are bigger than the bridges built over them.
What the marker says
IN THE MID-1800s, A WAGON TRAIL CALLED FREDERICKSBURG ROAD RAN 19 MILES NORTHWEST OF NEW BRAUNFELS TO ONE OF THE FIRST SAFE GUADALUPE RIVER ROAD CROSSINGS. ESSER'S CROSSING AT SPRING BRANCH SERVED ALMOST ONE HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS AS A PLACE DESIGNATED FOR SECURE PASSAGE INTO THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE STATE FROM NEW BRAUNFELS AND SAN ANTONIO TO JOHNSON CITY AND FREDERICKSBURG. THE CROSSING PROVIDED A SAFE, SHALLOW SOLID ROCK RIVER BOTTOM CROSSING FOR PIONEERS AND THEIR OX-DRAWN WAGONS AND HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES. AS EARLY AS 1850, THIS CROSSING ON THE GUADALUPE RIVER WAS KNOWN AS HENDERSON CROSSING. A GERMAN IMMIGRANT, CHARLES ESSER, SR. (1827-1902), SETTLED IN THE AREA IN 1858 AND PROVIDED A PUBLIC WAY-STATION ALONG THE ROUTE. ESSER WAS A JUDGE, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, AND SCHOOL TEACHER, AND WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN GETTING A POSTAL STATION, CALLED WESSON, IN THE AREA. CHARLES BEIERLE, SR. WAS THE POSTMASTER BETWEEN 1893 AND 1907. WHEN THE CROSSING WAS FLOODED, TEAMSTERS DROVE TO FISCHER'S STORE, DEVIL'S BACKBONE OR PURGATORY ROAD TO CROSS OVER THE 1887 FAUST STREET BRIDGE IN NEW BRAUNFELS. BY 1903, THE PUBLIC AND COMAL COUNTY OFFICIALS BEGAN DISCUSSIONS TO BUILD A SECOND BRIDGE TO PROVIDE HIGH WATER CROSSING OVER THE GUADALUPE RIVER. IN 1904, THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT SELECTED ESSER'S CROSSING TO RECEIVE THE BRIDGE. AFTER ITS CONSTRUCTION, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS WERE BROUGHT TO THE NEW BRAUNFELS AREA FROM AS FAR AWAY AS JOHNSON CITY. THE WROUGHT IRON WHIPPLE TRUSS BRIDGE, A POPULAR STYLE OF THE TIME, WAS COMPLETED IN 1904. THE BRIDGE DESIGNED FOR ONE-WAY TRAFFIC DISPLAYED A SIGN FORBIDDING FAST DRIVING OR RIDING OR DRIVING MORE THAN TEN HEAD OF LIVESTOCK ON THE BRIDGE AT ANY ONE TIME. ESSER'S CROSSING BRIDGE WAS DESIGNATED AN OFFICIAL UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL STATION IN 1923. AREA RESIDENTS SERVED AS GAUGE ATTENDANTS TO RECORD ANNUAL DATA. THE 1904 BRIDGE WAS LATER CONDEMNED AND REMOVED IN 1979. (2012)