DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This is Duane, somewhere out on the Texas plains of Stonewall County, and the story I'm about to tell you has a name that earns every letter of it. Stonewall County was created in 1876 by the State Legislature, but for a good while after that, the land was only sparsely settled — cattle ranchers, wide open space, the kind of quiet that makes a person reconsider their choices.
That was about to change. Around 1900, a number of German families who had been living down in southeast Texas made a decision. They packed up, pulled out, and relocated to this vicinity, settling along the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River.
Now that is a river with a name, and these were people with a plan. They bought land. They started farming.
And while they were waitin' on lumber to come in so they could build proper houses and barns, they lived in half-dugout structures — part earth, part shelter, all determination. You want to know what grit looks like? That's it right there.
Then in 1903, a man named G. R. Spielhagen laid out a townsite, two miles southeast of where you're probably standing right now, and named it Brandenburg — after a town in Germany.
Makes sense. You carry your home with you one way or another. The town was finding its footing when the railroad came through in 1908 and 1909.
Here's the thing about railroads, though — they didn't always go where you were. The line bypassed Brandenburg entirely, which for a small community is the kind of news that changes everything. So what did the people do?
They moved. The whole town relocated to sit right along that rail line, and the place became known as New Brandenburg. A new name for a new site, and before long the community was growin' rapidly — a post office, a school, a cotton gin, stores, homes.
The kind of list that means people are putting down roots. And then the world cracked open. World War I arrived, and with it came something the citizens of New Brandenburg could not ignore.
These were German families, living in a town with a German name, in a country now at war with Germany. What they did next is the whole story. They petitioned the U.S.
Postal Service. They asked — formally, officially — to change the name of their town. Not because they were told to.
Because they wanted to demonstrate their patriotism and their pride in their adopted country. Let that settle for a second. On August 9, 1918, the name was officially changed.
And what did they choose? Old Glory. Now the town has declined over the years, as towns sometimes do.
But many descendants of those pioneer settlers continue to reside in the area. People whose grandparents and great-grandparents dug themselves halfway into the earth to survive, moved a whole town to chase a railroad, and then — when the moment came to say who they were — answered with the name of a flag. Old Glory, Texas.
It didn't get that name by accident.
What the marker says
Stonewall County was created in 1876 by the State Legislature, but the area was only sparsely settled by cattle ranchers before the turn of the century. About 1900 a number of German families who had been living in southeast Texas relocated to this vicinity and settled along the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River. They bought land and started farming, often living in half-dugout structures until lumber could be brought in to build horses and barns. In 1903 G. R. Spielhagen laid out a townsite (2 mi. SE) and named it Brandenburg after a town in Germany. When the railroad was built through the area in 1908-09, bypassing the small community, the town relocated to this site along the rail line and became known as New Brandenburg. The community grew rapidly and soon boasted a post office, school, cotton gin, stores, and homes. At the outbreak of World War I, the citizens petitioned the U.S. Postal Service to change the name of the town to demonstrate their patriotism and pride in their adopted country. On August 9, 1918, the name was officially changed to Old Glory. Although the town has declined, many descendants of pioneer settlers continue to reside in the area. (1990)