Startzville Community

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. There's a spot in Comal County where Cranes Mill Road and Sattler Road cross each other, and if you slow down long enough, you'll notice a place with a name that's got some history layered into it like rings in a cedar tree. That's Startzville, and the story of how it came to be what it is today starts, as so many Hill Country stories do, with hard work and a good piece of land.

Back in 1940, Bruno and Viola Elbel built a cedar yard and store right there at that intersection. Cedar country, cedar business. Made sense.

Then in 1944, a couple named Curt and Alice Schlameus Startz came along and leased the building. They ran that store, kept at it, and by 1946 they'd bought the property outright. Now, Curt Startz wasn't just anybody passing through.

He was the grandson of Heinrich and Louise Artzt Startz, who had settled in that very area back in the 1850s. So this wasn't a stranger putting down roots. This was roots coming back to claim what was theirs by memory and blood.

But here's the detail I love most about this whole story. The name Startzville wasn't official, wasn't on a map, wasn't anything anyone had written down until 1950, when an artist by the name of Dr. E.

J. Duffin completed a painting of that store front and used the name for the first time. One painting.

That's all it took. A name that had been floating in the air just needed someone to put a brush to it. And through all of it, before, during, and after the building of Canyon Dam and Lake, selling ice was a significant business out of that little store.

You think about what ice meant in the Hill Country heat, and you start to understand why. Then in 1963, James and Lorine Pantermuehl Startz added a café to the place, and that café is still in operation today. From a cedar yard in 1940 to a café still serving folks, Startzville has been quietly keeping that crossroads alive for a long, long time.

What the marker says

The area of Startzville was established at the intersection of Cranes Mill Road and Sattler Road. In 1940 Bruno and Viola Elbel built a cedar yard and store. Curt and Alice Schlameus Startz leased the building in 1944, operated the store and eventually bought the property in 1946. Curt Startz was the grandson of Heinrich and Louise Artzt Startz that settled in the area in the 1850s. The name Startzville was first used in 1950 by artist Dr. E. J. Duffin who completed a painting of the store front. Selling ice was a significant business before, during and after the building of Canyon Dam and Lake. In 1963, James and Lorine Pantermuehl Startz added a café that is still in operation today. (2012)