NORDHEIM

A short history of Nordheim

Nordheim was founded in 1895 as a railway siding known as Weldon Switch along the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway. The area became a settlement primarily of German immigrants. H. Runge and Company—owning much of the surrounding area—along with other local figures laid out the townsite. In 1896, the community was renamed after Nordheim, Baden-Württemberg the German hometown of Runge’s president, William Frobese.

By the turn of the century, the town had developed essential services and infrastructure, including stores, a cotton gin, a school, a Lutheran church, and telephone and telegraph connections. The arrival of the Davy Crockett passenger train line in 1901 allowed for the construction of a town passenger depot. One year later, in 1902 a local newspaper named The Nordheim View was launched. A hotel and a bank soon followed, and Nordheim became a hub for shipping cotton, poultry, and other crops. Social life centered around German clubs and organizations such as the Schuetzen Verein shooting club and the Nordheim Brass Band. Beginning in 1906, Local poultry growers and cotton, truck-crop, and lumber shippers were garnering praise in the nearby town newspaper the Cuero Star, describing German farmers of Nordheim as a “better class”. Between 1902 and 1915 the community’s population climbed significantly—alongside eight saloons—prompting incorporation in 1917 when state law restricted unincorporated towns from licensing alcohol outlets. In 1922 Ku Klux Klan from nearby town Runge had threatened to violently protest the Nordheim Silver Jubilee, in reaction to the presence of alcohol and gambling. Nordheim locals had responded claiming they would be “ready to meet the challenge”, causing the Ku Klux Klan back down.

The Nordheim Independent School District formed in 1927 through the consolidation of rural schools—full accreditation followed by 1946. On May 6, 1930, a cyclone struck, killing and injuring several townspeople; emergency supplies arrived by air. Though the Great Depression and storm damage led to business closures and an exodus of residents, the 1934 discovery of oil and gas provided new employment. Through the mid-20th century, Nordheim slowly rebuilt its commercial base and residential neighborhoods. In 1952 the local paper relocated and became the DeWitt County View, printed in Yorktown.

In the decades that followed, the town’s population and number of businesses declined; its last cotton gin closed in 1970. Yet German cultural traditions endured: the Schuetzen Verein hall remained in use into the late 1980s, May Fest and Harvest Fest continued, and the brass band—long lauded as Texas’s oldest continuously active German ensemble—played until shortly after 1972. A museum honoring local history opened in the fire station in April 1986. The town also gained cinematic fame when Paris, Texas filmed scenes there in 1984.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Nordheim, Texas, revision 1378040126 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.