GOLD, TEXAS
AKA Rheingold, Texas

Gillespie County, Texas Hill Country

30° 20' 48"N, 98° 41' 14" W (30.346667, -98.687222)
Off FM 1631 on Rheingold School Road
About 13 ½ miles NE of Fredericksburg the county seat
Population: Between 0 and Unknown

Gold, Texas Area Hotels › Fredericksburg Hotels

Rheingold Community Center, former Rheingold School
National Register of Historic Places
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2004

History in a Pecan Shell

Jacob and Peter Gold, German immigrants founded the community but died during a cholera outbreak soon after their arrival (1852). The brother’s widows and children (six sons) continued on, running the community store and gin.

With an influx of new Germans, the town became (unofficially) known as Rheingold. The community school started in the early 1870s but was replaced in the late 1880s.

A post office was granted in 1908 and business grew to include a grocery, blacksmith and even a dance hall. The population was small, with business being generated by local families. The 1920s were boom times for the community and it leaped from a mere 15 people to somewhere around 100.

The Great Depression hit the town hard. First the post office closed in 1931 and by 1933, the population had fallen to only 10. Somehow, the town managed to stay on local maps and the old school building survived into the 21st Century – as a community center, and National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2004
More Texas Schoolhouses

Rheingold TX - Gillespie County, post office info

Rheingold TX, Gillespie County, 1900 Postmark

Cover canceled with Rheingold, TX 1900 postmark
Courtesy The John J. Germann Collection

Gillespie County 1907 Postal Map showing Rheingold
(near Blanco County line)
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

Gillespie County 1920s map showing Gold
From Texas state map #10749
Courtesy Texas General Land Office

Take a road trip

Gold, Texas Nearby Towns:
Fredericksburg the county seat
Johnson City
See
Gillespie County
Blanco County
Texas Hill Country

Book Hotel Here:
Fredericksburg Hotels | More Hotels

Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact us.