DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Herman and Ada Knibbe Home in Comal County. Now settle in, because this story goes back further than the house itself. Way back to a German immigrant named Dietrich Knibbe, born in 1817, who became the very first settler of Spring Branch.
He died in 1896, but he left something behind that can't be quarried or milled or farmed. He left a family rooted to that land like the cedar and limestone around it. His grandson Herman Knibbe, born in 1884, understood that inheritance completely.
And in 1910, Herman and his wife Ada, born Ada Ohlrich in 1889, set about building something to last. They didn't order it from a catalog. They quarried large rock right off a hillside east of the property, hauled it in, and laid it up into walls that are still standing today, original, intact, exactly as they were in 1910.
The exterior walls. The entrance doors with their transoms and full-length oval beveled glass panes. The single-pane windows with that old wavy glass that gives the light a kind of ripple, like looking through slow water.
Herman wasn't alone on that road either. His brother Arno, born in 1889, owned a residence on the same stretch. So did their brother Harry, born in 1886.
Three brothers, three houses, one road. The Knibbe family wasn't just living in Spring Branch. They were building it.
They ran the local general store. They served as postmasters. They milled wood, farmed cotton, raised cattle and chickens and goats, quarried rock, and provided water and electricity to the surrounding area.
They did it all. And behind the main house, they kept right on building. A chicken house.
A partially underground cistern with an attached hand pump. A wooden smokehouse. A tin-covered outbuilding that originally served as a carriage house.
A two-room woodwork shop and storage area. And in 1930, they added a caretaker's house to the compound. Ada lived in that house until 1980.
Herman until 1954. And by the time this marker came along, over a century of Knibbes had lived within those quarried rock walls. That's the thing about a house built right.
It doesn't just shelter the people inside it. It keeps the story of who they were, every door, every pane of wavy glass, every stone hauled down from that hillside, a testament to the hardships and the accomplishments of the earliest settlers of Spring Branch, and the long, stubborn legacy of the family they became.
What the marker says
IN 1910, HERMAN KNIBBE (1884-1954), GRANDSON OF THE FIRST SETTLER OF SPRING BRANCH, GERMAN IMMIGRANT DIETRICH KNIBBE (1817-1896), BUILT THIS HOUSE WITH HIS WIFE, ADA (OHLRICH) KNIBBE (1889-1980). THE HOUSE WAS ONE OF THREE RESIDENCES ON THE SAME ROAD OWNED BY HERMAN AND HIS TWO BROTHERS, ARNO KNIBBE (1889-1984) AND HARRY KNIBBE (1886-1974). THE KNIBBE FAMILY PLAYED AN INTEGRAL ROLE IN THE GROWTH OF SPRING BRANCH, OPERATING THE LOCAL GENERAL STORE AND SERVING AS POSTMASTERS. THE KNIBBES CONSTRUCTED THIS HOUSE USING LARGE QUARRIED ROCK, OBTAINED FROM THEIR RANCH ON A HILLSIDE EAST OF THE PROPERTY. THE OVERALL STRUCTURE OF THE HOUSE IS INTACT FROM ITS ORIGINAL 1910 CONSTRUCTION, INCLUDING ORIGINAL EXTERIOR WALLS, ALL EXTERIOR ENTRANCE DOORS WITH TRANSOMS AND FULL'LENGTH OVAL BEVELED GLASS PANES, AND SINGLE-PANE WINDOWS WITH WAVY GLASS. ALONG WITH THE MAIN HOUSE, THE KNIBBES BUILT A CHICKEN HOUSE, A PARTIALLY UNDERGROUND CISTERN WITH AN ATTACHED HAND PUMP, A WOODEN SMOKEHOUSE, AN ADDITIONAL CARETAKER'S HOUSE BUILT IN 1930, A TIN'COVERED OUTBUILDING WHICH ORIGINALLY SERVED AS A CARRIAGE HOUSE, AND A TWO'ROOM WOODWORK SHOP AND STORAGE AREA. UTILIZING ALL THE RESOURCES SPRING BRANCH HAD TO OFFER, THE KNIBBES MILLED WOOD, FARMED COTTON, RAISED CATTLE, CHICKENS, AND GOATS, QUARRIED ROCK AND PROVIDED WATER AND ELECTRICITY TO THE AREA. OVER A CENTURY OF KNIBBES LIVED IN THIS HOUSE, WHICH STANDS AS A TESTAMENT TO THE HARDSHIPS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE EARLIEST SETTLERS OF SPRING BRANCH AND THE LEGACY OF THEIR DESCENDANTS. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 2018