Germany

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the community of Germany, in Houston County, Texas. Now, the name alone is enough to make you slow down on that country road and wonder — Germany, Texas. And the story behind it is something worth knowing.

According to local tradition, the name reaches back to a German immigrant family that had settled in the area in the 1830s, long before the community you're about to hear about ever took shape. That's the thread the name hangs on. But the real story of Germany — the one that matters — begins after the Civil War, when families of former slaves came to this land and built something lasting out of it.

In the 1870s and 1880s, several freedmen obtained pre-emption land grants in the area. Their names deserve to be said out loud: George Smith, John Burt, Lewis Hall, and Van Benton, along with their families. They put down roots.

They built a community. Close-knit, the marker says, and you get the feeling that word was earned. Now, Germany never had its own post office.

It was never formally incorporated. On paper, it might not have looked like much. But its citizens organized the New Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, and they built a public school.

The school held classes in a building shared with the church — one building carrying two of the most important things a community can carry. That school was eventually expanded, possibly with assistance from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, and it kept its doors open all the way until 1949. The church, for its part, still serves a loyal congregation today.

That's not nothing. That's the kind of staying power that outlasts paperwork and post offices and incorporation filings. Germany is still out there — still rural, still home to a few resident families, still a gathering place for those who grew up on that land and moved on but never quite let go.

And when those former citizens pass on, many of them are brought back. Returned here, the marker says, for burial in the community cemetery, which dates all the way back to the 1880s. Maintained by citizens and volunteers, that cemetery holds marked graves and unmarked ones alike — pioneer settlers and their descendants, resting in the ground their families claimed and cleared and called home.

Germany, Texas never made it onto most maps. But the people who built it made sure it would not be forgotten.

What the marker says

Settled by families of former slaves following the Civil War, this community received its name, according to local tradition, in reference to the homeland of the German immigrant family that had settled in the area in the 1830s. Several freedmen, including George Smith, John Burt, Lewis Hall, and Van Benton and their families, obtained pre-emption land grants in the area in the 1870s and 1880s, and soon a close-knit community was formed. Although the Germany community did not have its own post office and never was incorporated formally, its citizens organized the New Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and a public school. The church still serves a loyal congregation. The school held classes in a building shared with the church. It was expanded, possibly with Julius Rosenwald Fund assistance, and continued in operation until 1949. Still a rural community, Germany is home to a few resident families and serves as a gathering place for former residents. Many former citizens are returned here for burial in the community cemetery, which dates to the 1880s. Maintained by citizens and volunteers, the cemetery contains marked and unmarked graves of pioneer settlers and their descendants. (1997)