DOSS, TEXAS

Gillespie County, Texas Hill Country

30° 26' 41" N, 99° 7' 50" W (30.444722, -99.130556)
FM 783
14 miles NW of Harper
19 miles NW of Fredericksburg the county seat
Population: 75 est. (2010, 2000)

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The Doss Post Office
Photo courtesy Justin Parson, January 2006
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History in a Pecan Shell

Founded by the industrious Doss Brothers (Tom and John) in 1849, the community's first enterprises were a gristmill and distillery. The brothers also built a dam on Threadgill Creek and built a sawmill. In 1864 August Steiness bought the brothers out and started a post office in his house. Steiness died in 1866 and William F. Lange, came into possession of the property. The dam was expanded but later washed out in a flood. In 1875 a stone dam was constructed.

In 1898 a post office was opened in the store of F. W. Lange and the town was briefly known as Lange's Mill. The name Doss was assumed in 1907 when the post office moved two miles north.

Doss' population seems never to have reached 100. In 1925 it was 50 and seven years later it had only increased by 10. In 1964 it was down to a mere 22, but rebounded to 75 by 1972 - the number that continues to be used on the state map.

St. Peter Lutheran Church
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy Justin Parson, January 2006

St. Peter Lutheran Church historical marker
Photo courtesy Justin Parson, January 2006

St. Peter Lutheran Church

Organized by German Lutherans in September 1896 under a brush arbor at nearby Lange's Mill, this church has been part of Gillespie County history for over 100 years. A frame church building erected in 1898 was replaced by this Gothic revival structure in 1912-1913. built by church members using native limestone, the building features a central projecting bell tower and pressed metal steeple with cross stone quoins, and arched Gothic windows.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988

St. Peter Lutheran Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, March 2003
More Texas Churches

Catfish Heads
Photo courtesy Justin Parson, January 2006

Lange's Mill
July 2019 Photo © Michael Barr

Doss Chronicles:

Lange's Mill by Michael Barr
The story of Lange's Mill, 2 miles north of Doss in Gillespie County, began when brothers John and Thomas Doss...

Hoodwinked by Hollywood by Michael Barr
The 1970 filming of Strawberries Need Rain in Gillespie County including Doss.

Doss, Texas Area Towns:
Fredericksburg the county seat
Harper
See Gillespie County | Texas Hill Country

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