Albert, Texas
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (November 2007) |
Albert, Texas, originally Martinsburg, Texas, is on Williams Creek 16 miles (25.7 km) southeast of Fredericksburg and 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the Blanco County line in southeastern Gillespie County.[1] The town was a stop on the Fredericksburg-Blanco stage route.[1] In late October 2007, the town was put up for sale on eBay.[2]
Early history
The area was first settled by George Cauley, Ben White, Sr., and a man named Jacobs.[1]
Around 1877, blacksmith Fritz Wilke, George Maenius, and John Petri moved from Fredericksburg seeking pasture for their cattle.[1] Wilke bought land from a man named Elmeier, who was robbed and murdered years later.[1]
The Martinsburg post office operated from 1877 to 1886.[1] In 1892, Martinsburg got a new post office and a new name, after Albert Luckenbach sold his store in Luckenbach, and arrived to register a new post office in town, under the name Albert.[1]
A school was established in 1891, and in 1897 postmaster Otto Schumann opened the town's first store. In 1900 a new school building was erected where Lyndon Baines Johnson was briefly enrolled.[1]
A local Lutheran mission, the Lutheran Church of Stonewall, was established in 1902 which LBJ attended.[1]
Population decline
Albert had 50 residents in 1925, only 4 in 1964, and 25 in 1972.[1] By 1985 the store had been torn down, the school converted into a community club, and the dance hall a storage locker, though Albert still had 25 residents and two businesses.[1] The population would stay at 25 through 2000,[1] but by 2007, the town had been all but abandoned.
Auction
In 2007, Bobby Cave, owner of the town of 13 acres (0.053 km²) put it up for sale on eBay with a reserve price of $2.5 million.[2]