Footprints of Fayette
Kreische Brewery Monu - ment Hill State Historic Sites (KBMH) is one of the most overlooked public sites in Texas. KBMH combines a beautifully dramatic natural setting, multi - ple Texas histories and cultures, serenity, and a revamped visitor experience. The Monument Hill part of the moniker comes from a tomb and an associated moral -
ized monument to the memory of the ill-fated Meir expedition of
1842.
The Kreische Brewery half of the name pays tribute to a German immigrant, Heinrich Kreische, who settled on the Bluff (south of La Grange) in the mid-1800s and built a state-ofthe-art, multi-storied stone house and multi-leveled brewery, both utilizing the terrain of the bluff. The well-preserved remnants of the brewery and outstanding ma - sonry still stand as a monument to the craftsmanship of the time. The brewery was one of the first commercial breweries in Texas. This area was known as the Bluff Community, situated on a 200foot bluff overlooking the Colo - rado River Valley in the town of La Grange resides in.
The German immigrants had brought many of their traditions to Texas from the old country. They were big on Vereins (asso - ciations), which bonded the fam - ilies together by allowing them to share ethnic traditions and languages. There were gymnas - tic, agricultural, hiking, and tar -
get-shooting vereins along with several more subsets of com -
bined interests. The Bluff Schuetzenvere - in (shooting or rifle club) was formed in 1878 and the members used their communal talents to build a large building that was used as a community meeting center to allow their friends, rel - atives, and neighbors to congre -
gate and learn how to exist in this New World. By 1901, its popu - larity brought about the addition of a 12x16 foot building with a five-foot projecting roof around it. Drinking and selling alcohol inside dance halls was frowned upon, thus, exterior buildings were added to accommodate the drinkers. There was no seating at these buildings; you bought your beverage and stood there drinking it, thus the "beer stand" name applied to it. By the fall of 1914, the pavilion was enlarged, and other necessary structures were built with the Baca Or -
chestra performing for the grand opening. The night of the Whit ey Kaufmann dance in Septem- ber of 1924 (during prohibition) federal revenuer officers visited the hall looking for bootleggers. They reported that all was well, and no evidence of alcohol was found; of course, a neighboring newspaper reported the opposite.
Examples of events in held in the hall were Easter Sunday dances (1890s), mask dances (1902), by 1902 regular monthly dances were held on Sundays, Leap Year dances (where La - dies paid admission and men got in free) (1904), regular picnics and dances by La Grange orga - nizations such as the Knights of Pythias, shooting contests (1911 and earlier), German Day cel - ebrations (1911 &1914), 1914. With the advent of automobiles, people from beyond horseback/ buggy range were able to visit the pleasure park, as it was referred to. In 1917, a Schulenburg group drove to the brewery for a pic - nic and then enjoyed the dance at the Swiss Alp on their trip home. Christmas was frequently celebrated with a feast and a tree trimmed with toys and fruit for the children, followed by a dance. The published calendar of amusements for 1911 were: on March 11- a ball; April 17-Easter Fest and ball; June 5- King Prize shoot and ball, July, August, and September balls, October 6-Ger - man Day Celebration and ball, and two more balls in November and December rounded out the year. This hall activity was fair - ly common for several decades in the early 1900s. For several years, La Grange did not hold any 4th of July celebrations, but the Bluff Schuetzen Verein did it up right celebrating with fire - works and dancing.
Texians, no matter what their ethnicity, has always been proud of their heritage. Monday, April 21,1924, saw a San Jacinto Day celebration begin with the La Grange Chamber of Commerce Band performing at the court - house, followed with a military and civic parade through La Grange. The thousands of visi - tors then proceeded to the Bluff for a barbeque dinner, charging 35 cents for adults and 25 cents for children. Speeches were made outlining the Texas Revo -
lution, while an Easter Egg hunt and other children's games were conducted to amuse the chil- dren. Mid-afternoon, two forc - es, the Schulenburg troops and the La Grange troops, faced off on the Colorado below the bluff. A sham battle commenced in which $12,000 ($223,000 2025 dollars) of ammunition being shot, bombs dropped from air - planes, armored tanks patrolled the riverbanks, cavalry charges were made, and Browning ma - chine guns fired 10,000 rounds of ammunition for forty-two minutes. In the evening a dance with Cornelson Orchestra from Schulenburg was held along with more nighttime pyrotechnics. All of this was for the benefit of the local National Guard troops stationed in the area (the reports were unclear on how the financ - es were to be accounted for and there was no mention whether the area cows stopped giving milk and chickens stopped laying from all the racket).
The Hall was used by La Grange citizens for various func - tions. A leap year dance in 1920, given by "the maids and matrons" of La Grange, was a festive event and the hall was decorated with vines, Japanese Lanterns, and moss. The Lone Star Five of Bart - lett furnished the music. During the grand march, programs were handed out by little Lois Marie Weikel and C.J. Kainer Jr., who were attired as a little Japanese girl and boy. The programs list - ed the songs to be performed and single dancers, as this was a leap year (females in charge) could pencil in a dance with a certain male that agreed to dance when asked by the female. The punch bowls were staffed by two young girls also in Japanese costumes. At midnight, a salad was served. This event brought dancers from Bellville, Schulenburg, Winchester, Bastrop and Victoria. This was the social event of the season as the guest list contained familiar local names such as Fritsch, Meyer, Koehl, Browns, Stolz, Koenig, Peters, Rabensburg, Weikel, Noak, Bradshaw, Reichert, Ruhmann, Schwartz, and Loessin, to name a few.
The Verein Hall hosted top notch entertainment with the La Grange Brass Band supporting German singers (1880), the Naiser Brass Band (1892), Bridge Valley Silver Cornet Band (1899). La Grange Concert Band (1904), Knape’s Orchestra from Ammannsville (1905), Bluff String Band (1908), which also played at Schulenburg Church picnic. Baca’s Orchestra played after the Verein meeting (1916) and many more times, Professor Janda’s Band, from Hostyn, (1919). The Jazz Age reached Fayette County after WW I, and Cornelson’s Happy Six and Seven (1922), Whitey Kaufmann & His Pennsylvania Serenaders (1924), Harley Berg’s Orchestra (1924), Soul Aggravators, (1924), Eckels Dance Orchestra (1926). The Old Time polkas, waltzes and marches were not forgotten and Baca’s Old Time Dance Band (1927) performed frequently. In 1924, a four-day convention of the Texas Car [rail] Lot Egg and Poultry Shippers in La Grange filled the pavilion as visitors came from Austin, Elgin, Bastrop, Eagle Lake, Giddings, Columbus and other localities danced (jazz) to Cornelson’s Happy Seven.
In the early part of 1928, the stockholders of the Schuetzen Verein, of which there was only one still alive from the original founding group, voted to put the hall and the buildings up for sale, which were on the Kreische property. On March 4, 1928, bids were opened for the purchase of the buildings. D. J. Weikel’s bid of $630.00 was accepted, while George Adamcik’s bid of $728.99 his bid was rejected. Apparently, the board didn’t want the hall to disappear as Weikel made it clear that the memories of when this park “was the mecca for all the folks from every countryside” should not be erased and he intended to renovate the hall to save the memories from the hand of time, while leasing the property from the Kreische’s for two years. The Kreische family disagreed with Weikel’s proposition and refused to lease the property to him, thus Adamcik’s new bid of $750.00 was accepted.
George Adamcik’s plan was to raze the buildings, salvage the lumber, and use it to build a new house and a shop for his Crossley Icy Ball refrigerator business on the new highway (SH 72, later US 77) which had bypassed the Kreische property by several hundred yards.
A eulogy published in the La Grange Journal stated, “Time and again has the youth and beauty assembled at the pavilion and tripped the light fantastic to inspiring music, and many are the gatherings that have been held at the old historical place. But Time deals unerringly, one by one, the organizers answered the roll call, and modern ideas and gradual growth of indifference made it necessary to save what was left. ‘Twas ever thus.” (meaning certain situations are cyclic and unlikely to change).
While the Verein Hall is no more, the pleasure park on the Bluff is still going strong with German music, target shooting, and family entertainment under the auspices of the Texas Historic Commission. The latest Schuetzenfest was on May 17, 2025.
