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Rogers Ranch ~ ca
1884
In 1884, M. A. and
Martha Rogers purchased a large tract of land northwest of Lockhart at the
confluence of Elm and Plum Creeks, covering parts of Caldwell, Hays, and Travis
counties on present-day Farm Road 2001. The ranch, managed for them by a Mr.
Clark, was on rich, heavy, black soil and proved very productive.
The Rogers placed the
land on the market in 1895 and subdivided the land into 100-200 acre tracts. A
number of German immigrants began settling the area, joining the Ohlendorf
family who had purchased land just south of the Rogers’ ranch in 1890. The
subdivided tracts were sold for $12.50 an acre and became home to families named
Kerchhof, Kockler, Braune, Conrad, Kasch, Damerau, Meisser, Bodemann, and
Roeder.
With the nearest
school at that time being located some five miles away, children were forced to
walk or ride donkeys through dense mesquite brush in all kinds of weather. A
two-acre tract was soon purchased from Gustav Bodemann and a one-room school
building was erected. As the community grew, a second room was added and lessons
were conducted in both German and English.
Bodeman Hall was also
constructed, serving as a church and community center. In 1910, a combination
bowling alley and shooting hall was built, but burned in 1920. Separate school
and church facilities existed in the community until the 1930s for the Germans,
Mexican immigrants and Blacks. Eventually, the Rogers Ranch schools were
consolidated with the Lockhart school district in 1950. Many of the family farms
were purchased by larger operations and all that remains of the site today are a
few cemeteries.
Sources –
1. Caldwell County Kin: The First 150 Years published by the Genealogical and
Historical Society of Caldwell County. November 2000, C-38
2. “History of the Schools of Caldwell County to 1900”, Master’s Thesis prepared
by Carroll L. Mullins, August, 1929, pages 60-62
3. Plum Creek Almanac Volume 4 No. 1, Spring 1986, pages 92-93 and Volume 22 No.
1, Spring 2004, pages 58-61
4. The New Handbook of Texas, Texas State Historical Association, Vol. 5, page
666
The Plum Creek Almanac is a project of
The Genealogical and Historical Society of Caldwell County.
 The Genealogical and Historical Society
of Caldwell County Copyright
© 1963
Updated
10/15/2019
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