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Industry
former post office
Photo
courtesy Gerald
Massey, July 2011
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Historical Marker:
Industry
Post Office
During
Mexican rule of Texas, a post office was established in May of 1830
at San
Felipe, the center of Stephen F. Austin's Texas colony. On the
Gotier Trace, a road connecting San
Felipe to what would become the town of Bastrop,
the German family of Johann Friedrich
Ernst had settled and established the community of Industry
by 1831.
Known as the "Father of German immigration to Texas," Ernst wrote
numerous letters to his native Oldenburg, Germany. One, printed in
German newspapers, attracted many German immigrants to Texas. The
German settlement of Industry grew
around Ernst's property, which included his home and a store. Mail
coming to area residents was addressed in care of Ernst, who had worked
as a postal clerk before coming to America.
By 1838, during the Republic of Texas era, Johann Gottlieb Sieper,
Ernst's partner who later became his son-in-law, acted as Industry's
first postmaster. In 1840, his position became official. He continued
in this capacity after Texas joined the Union, and he remained postmaster
until his death in 1855. A few months later, Ernst Knolle became
postmaster, and the Industry post
office moved to the Knolle store, approximately a half mile east of
this site.
The Ernst Store property, long held to be the site of Industry's first
post office, remains in the community today as part of Ernst Memorial
Park. The restored and stabilized building is a reminder of early
Texas settlement and the importance of a mail system to the colonists.
Positioned along a route that crossed the early center of Austin's
Colony, Industry developed similarly
to the rest of the state, with postal service first relying on an
individual or small number of residents before evolving into a more
established system.
(2004) |
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Industry
Post Office Historical Marker
Photo
courtesy Gerald
Massey, July 2011
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Industry
former post office entrance
Photo
courtesy Gerald
Massey, July 2011
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View
of Industry former post office, historical marker,
and Ernst Memorial Park
Photo
courtesy Gerald
Massey, July 2011
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