GRUENE, TEXAS

Texas' Most Successful Ghost Town

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History in a Pecan Shell

Gruene is now included in the "greater New Braunfels" city limits. Before it became a thriving tourist Mecca, tiny Gruene was once thriving as a center for cotton farmers. Original settlement dates to before the Civil War and a town center developed under the name of Goodwin. In 1872 the Gruene family bought a large tract of land here and made agreements with a dozen or so families to share crop the 6,000 acres. Henry D. Gruene built a store to supply his cotton-growing sharecroppers in 1878.

Location, Location, Location

The store was also on the Austin-San Antonio stage line and had the best ford of the Guadalupe River for miles. It was only natural that Mr. Gruene should expand his business to include a cotton gin and when the local people needed entertainment, Mr. Gruene provided a dance hall. In the 1880s the International-Great Northern Railroad arrived and the town was thereafter known as Gruene although the post office remained as Goodwin.

Gruene was thriving as the 20th Century arrived and provided ginning, banking and shipping for Comal County's cotton farmers. The town had depots for both the Katy and I&GN railroads. But nothing lasts forever and the boll weevil hit Gruene hard in the 1920s. The store and depots had already closed even before the Great Depression rolled around. Fast becoming a ghost town, the last nail was driven in the town's casket when it was bypassed by the highway after WWII.

It sat for years as a time capsule until it was discovered and developed in the early 1970s. It has since been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Gruene, Texas Images