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Parents saw
the value of the Girls Scouts from the start, and by 1932 the Sunflower
Troop 1 numbered 20 girls divided into 4 groups: Goldenrod, Blue
Bonnet, Wild Rose, and Indian Paint Brush Patrols. Troops also organized
in other parts of the county.
Beginning in the 1930s, the girls met in the Agricultural Building
behind the
courthouse (today a parking lot) or at the American Legion Hall.
The Nimitz ballroom hosted the bigger events.
Each year the numbers grew, and by 1947 the Gillespie County Girls
Scouts numbered 200 girls and adult leaders. The girls needed a
place of their own, but businesses and local governments had little
extra cash to spend on non-profits like the Girl Scouts. Then Dr.
Lorence Feller, the local chairman of the county-wide Girl Scouts
organization, took on the task of finding the girls a permanent
home.
First Dr. Feller located a small town lot at the corner of North
Crockett and West Austin Streets, with Town Creek forming the back
border. Dr. Feller used his formidable powers of persuasion to convince
the local Lions Club and the Chamber of Commerce to donate funds
to buy the property from owner Fred Koennecke.
The Fredericksburg Standard described the site as "conveniently
located to both the public school and St, Mary's School and is easily
accessible to out-of-town Girl Scout organizations."
At about the same time a search began for a suitable building. The
cost of new construction being prohibitive, Dr. Feller hoped to
buy an existing building and move it to the site
And not just any building would do. It would have to be long and
narrow to fit the oddly shaped lot wedged between West Austin Street
on the front side and Town Creek on the back.
The search for a building led Dr. Feller to Bastrop
County, 28 miles east of Austin where in 1942 the US Army established
Camp Swift
as a training facility and a German POW camp. At the end of the
war, when the property reverted back to private ownership, hundreds
of wooden military buildings at the former Camp Swift immediately
went up for sale at a fraction of the cost of new construction.
Those buildings relocated to towns and school campuses all over
Texas. The gymnasium went to Whitney
and is still used today.
In 1947 the Fredericksburg Standard reported "a barrack,
20 ft. by 80 ft., ideal as a meeting place for all the local Girl
Scout troops, will be moved to Fredericksburg from Camp Swift within
the next 30 days."
The wooden building had a large meeting room with a fireplace, kitchen
and bathroom. It had the ideal shape for the location, but it needed
a lot of work before the Girl Scouts could take over.
The entire community got behind the project. Donations poured in,
mostly in the form of labor and discounts.
Elgin Kuhlmann did the wiring. Harold Loitz hauled the lumber and
rocks. Schandua and Reichenau (tinsmiths) donated the ventilators.
Paul Lang donated wood for the mantel above the fireplace. Mutual
Lumber Company and Stein Lumber Company provided lumber and other
materials at a discount. City Radio and Electric Company gave discounts
on wiring and kitchen appliances. A rock mason covered the outside
walls with flagstone at minimal cost.
The Girls Scouts dedicated the building, located at 202 West Austin
Street, in January 1948. Even with all the donations and discounts
the Girl Scouts still owed about $2,500. Sources tell me that Dr.
Feller quietly paid the balance out of his own pocket.
The original name of the building, the Girl Scout Hall, seemed a
little too formal, and soon everyone in town referred to it as the
Girl Scout Cabin. To this day it stands as a reminder of what a
community can do when people put differences aside and work together.
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