Industry

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to give it its due. There's a little town in Austin County called Industry, and if you've ever driven past it without stopping, well, you drove past the beginning of something. According to the marker standing there, this is the site of the first permanent German settlement in Texas.

First. Permanent. German settlement.

In all of Texas. And it starts with one man. Friedrich Ernst, born in Varel, in Oldenburg, Germany.

Now Friedrich didn't exactly take the short route. He immigrated to America in 1829, and then, in 1831, he made his way to Texas. That's the year this settlement took root, 1831, and it held.

It didn't wash away, didn't blow off, didn't get abandoned. It held. The town itself was laid out in 1838, so for a few years it was just a settlement finding its shape, and then somebody drew the lines and said, alright, here's where we are.

Friedrich Ernst lived to see all of it. He died right here in 1858, on the very ground he had staked out. He came from Oldenburg, crossed an ocean, crossed a young republic, and the place he chose is still on the map.

Industry, Texas. The marker doesn't tell you everything. But it tells you enough.

What the marker says

Site of the first permanent German settlement in Texas, 1831. Founded by Friedrich Ernst, born at Varel, Oldenburg, Germany. Immigrated to America, 1829 and to Texas in 1831. Died here in 1858. The town was laid out in 1838.