| History
in a Pecan Shell
Settlers from Fredericksburg
moved here around 1877 in search of greener pastures for their livestock. The
town was originally named Martinsburg and was on the Blanco-Fredericksburg stage
line.
Martinsburg
had a post office from 1877 to 1886, when the mail was rerouted through Hye
in Blanco County. But when Albert Luckenbach, (see Luckenbach,
Texas) moved here after selling his store there, he applied for a post office
under his first name. It was approved in 1892. In a rare switch of priorities,
Albert got its post office five years before it opened its first store (1897).
A new school
replaced an earlier building in 1900. Lyndon Baines Johnson was a student here,
albeit for only one year. From 50 residents in 1925, it reached rock-bottom in
the mid 1960s with only four residents. In the early 1970s when Luckenbach
was finally being appreciated as an endangered Hill
Country “lifestyle,” Albert, Texas had increased its population to 25. The
store was demolished in the 1980s, and the old school put to another use.
The population
figure of 25 has been in use ever since and the 13-acre town became a single property.
In November of 2007, the town was put up for auction with a minimum acceptance
price of 2.5 million. On
November 24th, 2007, it was reported that "someone in Italy" had won
the town with a bid of $3.8 million. | 
