D’Hanis, TX

In many of my posts I have mentioned D’Hanis, TX, or D’Hanis Elementary School, etc., so I thought I would give you a little more information about the history of the town nearest to our RV park.

It is the home of Bill and Rosa’a Saloon,  one of the premier “joints” to enjoy really good home cookin’, Bill’s favorite is biscuits and gravy for breakfast. A lot of the folks around here go there for the chicken fried steak which is larger that a big dinner plate. You have to be really hungry when you go there!!!

This is our friend, Alanasue trying to figure out how to eat this huge hamburger!

The following information was taken from TexasEscapes.com

D’Hanis, TX History in a Pecan Shell
Also known as New D'Hanis, the designation doesn’t mean as much to travelers as it does to local residents. “Old” D’Hanis which is just over a mile east of what travelers today regard as D’Hanis. The colony was Henri Castro’s third settlement in Texas and was named to honor his European agent, William D'Hanis.
When it was formed in 1847, twenty-nine Alsatian families formed the nucleus of the town. Each family was given a twenty-acre farm and a town lot. In 1850 the entire town was a mere twenty buildings and when compared to safe and secure Castroville, D’Hanis was a primitive and crude outpost. Two years after the settlers arrived, Fort Lincoln was established to protect them from frequent Indian raids. Several tombstones in the old cemetery testify to the violence.

A post office was granted in 1854. The town became a stage stop along the San Antonio-Rio Grande road and St. Dominic Church was formed in 1847. The church building was abandoned in 1914 when the congregation moved to New D’Hanis.

The Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway built through Medina County in 1881 and bypassed the town creating “New” D’Hanis (a mile and a fraction west) in the process.
D’Hanis endured floods in 1894, 1919, and 1935.

Brick kiln and chimney
Photo by John Troesser, June 2003

The kilns of the D'Hanis Brick and Tile Company (founded 1883) are featured in T. Lindsay Baker’s excellent Building the Lone Star – a book on civil engineering marvels around Texas. Seco Pressed Brick, which opened in 1910, became D’Hanis’ second brick manufacturing company.

D'Hanis had a weekly newspaper from 1908 until 1923.
The population of the town has never exceeded 600 people.

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D’Hanis is a great little town populated by friendly folks and we are happy to be part of their community……….at least for a few months every winter!!!

Just Us Kids……………still in Texas