DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in 1849, four well-educated German families put down roots along Five Mile Creek — and folks around there didn't let that go unnoticed. These weren't just settlers.
They knew their Latin. So the community got called Latiner, right there on the spot, a name that wore their learning like a badge. Among the early residents was a man named Capt.
Robert Kleberg, born in 1803, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto, who lived until 1888. That's the kind of neighbor that tends to set a tone for a place. Now, time kept moving, as it does, and by the 1880s a separate German settlement called Rabke had grown up nearby.
The community was putting down deeper roots — more names, more institutions, more reasons to stay. Edward Rabke ran a store out that way, and from 1898 to 1905, that store housed the post office. It also held the Woodmen of the World Lodge.
One building carrying a whole community's business — that's a particular kind of weight. The local children attended Five Mile School, and in 1921 that school picked up and moved to the Ratcliffe farm — which is why you'll sometimes hear this place called the Five-Mile Ratcliffe community today. But here's the thing about time and small communities: it tends to take more than it leaves.
The early landmarks have disappeared, nearly all of them — all, that is, except for Rabke Methodist Church, still standing, still there, which is sometimes the most a place can ask for.
What the marker says
When four well-educated German families settled on Five Mile Creek in 1849, the community was called Latiner for their knowledge of Latin. Capt. Robert Kleberg (1803-88), Battle of San Jacinto veteran, was one early resident. In the 1880s, the German settlement of Rabke grew up nearby. Edward Rabke's store housed the post office, 1898-1905, and Woodmen of the World Lodge. Local children attended Five Mile School, which moved to the Ratcliffe farm in 1921. Except for Rabke Methodist Church, the early community landmarks have disappeared.