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History in
a Pecan Shell
John Dancy and
Edward Manton were grant holders of the original site in the 1830s.
The community never developed beyond a few business and residents
were focused on corn and cotton cultivation.
Original Anglo settlers sold their holdings to arriving German and
(later) Czech immigrants. By the end of the 19th Century, Bridge Valley
had a post office operating out of a store, a saloon, a blacksmith
and a school.
Voters could walk to the courthouse
in La Grange. The post
office closed its doors in 1903. Growth was never a serious consideration
due to its proximity to La
Grange.
Cedar Cemetery, just south of the creek
contains the graves of early residents, but the name Bridge Valley
is forgotten as a community – except for the occasional local business
that may use the name. |
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History
by Carolyn
Heinsohn
BRIDGE VALLEY
Among the first
settlers were John Dancy, Edward Manton, who arrived in the 1830s;
they had large land holdings located on the west side of the Colorado
River across from present-day La
Grange.
They tried to establish the town of Colorado City, but failed after
John Moore successfully enticed settlers to move to his new town of
La Grange across the
river. German and Czech settlers started to arrive in the 1870s and
1880s.
Anton Legler, a German-Bohemian, who first lived at Bluff
and worked for Kreische's Brewery, built a mercantile store, post
office, blacksmith shop and saloon.
Legler, a skilled musician, organized the Bridge Valley Band that
won first place in 1892 at the Battle of the Flowers' Festival in
San Antonio. He eventually
moved to Plum, TX and established a large
number of businesses there, as well as a store in Rabb's
Prairie.
Truck farming was prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th century
on the fertile Buckner's Creek bottom.
A one-room school was built in 1880 on land donated by Josef Bordovsky,
who became a school trustee and boarded teachers. The school closed
in 1940. |
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Fayette
County 1907 postal map
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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