Original Mansion of Henry D. Gruene. Photo by Stephen B. Chambers Architects, Inc.

Arriving in Gruene, Texas, we are met by a stately sprawling Live Oak and houses in various styles — a Victorian cottage, a frame house, mercantile store, cotton gin, dance hall, and saloon — all from the mid to late 19th century. This small town, now incorporated within the city of New Braunfels, Texas, was a thriving community until the town’s founder, Henry D. Gruene, died in 1920.

Things took a turn for the worse when the original cotton gin burned in 1922. Then, the Great Depression and the invasion of the boll weevil were too much for the family businesses and the settlement went under. It was not until 1974 that the Gruene estate was sold. New purchasers arrived, restored the town’s historic buildings, and had them placed on the National Register of Historic Places that it once again flourished. Gruene is a walking museum of Texas’ built history, “gently resisting change since 1872.”