Site of Breslau School

Duane's take

The official marker's the source for what I'm about to tell you, and I'll give it to you straight with a little color on the side. Now settle in, because this is the story of Breslau, a community that rose out of raw Texas bottomland and held on for the better part of a century. German and Czech immigrants came to the east side of the Lavaca River in the 1860s and 1870s.

They were farmers, mostly, growing cotton on small plots, and they named their community Breslau, in honor of the Prussian city of the same name. Think about that for a moment. These folks carried a piece of the old country all the way to Lavaca County, planted it in the soil, and watched it grow.

A man named Fritz Ladewig got to work in the 1870s, establishing a store and a cotton gin. And in 1872, he donated land for a school. That was the beginning of something.

By 1880, Breslau had a post office. A community with a post office is a community that intends to stay. Henry Weller donated an acre of land for a school for African American residents, and a schoolhouse was built on that acre.

The marker doesn't say when, and I won't pretend otherwise, but it stands as a fact worth noting. In 1887, the original school building was converted to a teacherage, and a larger schoolhouse was erected in its place. Breslau kept growing.

After 1900, the town could claim stores, a blacksmith, a dance hall, a school, and both Lutheran and Catholic churches. Now that is a community. For years, private donations kept the school running.

Then, in 1910, a school tax of seven cents was levied and additional classrooms were constructed. A teacherage was built in 1919. In 1922, a man named Wessel Buss sold three acres of land, and on those three acres, a modern school building went up.

All those decades of building, expanding, taxing, and constructing, because the people of Breslau believed their children deserved a quality education. The African American school closed in 1955. And then, in June of 1963, the Breslau School itself was closed and consolidated with the schools in Hallettsville.

Nearly a century of learning, and then the doors shut. But here's the thing about a community that names itself after a city it left behind. It doesn't disappear just because a building closes.

The marker stands. And now you know the story.

What the marker says

German and Czech immigrants moved to this area in the 1860s and 1870s and established small farms to grow cotton. Their community, named Breslau in honor of the Prussian city of Breslau, was located on the east side of the Lavaca River. Fritz Ladewig established a store and cotton gin in the 1870s, and in 1872 donated land for a school. In 1887, the school building was converted to a teacherage and a larger schoolhouse was erected. The community of Breslau prospered, and in 1880 a post office was established. Henry Weller donated an acre of land for a school for African American residents and a schoolhouse was built. After 1900 Breslau included stores, a blacksmith, dance hall, school and Lutheran and Catholic churches. Private donations supported the school until 1910 when a school tax of seven cents was levied and additional classrooms were constructed. A teacherage was built in 1919, and in 1922 Wessel Buss sold three acres of land on which a modern school building was built. The African American school closed in 1955. The Breslau School provided quality education for the community until June 1963 when the school was closed and consolidated with Halletsville schools. (1997)