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Sisterdale was originally known as
Zink's Settlement for Nicholas Zink, an engineer who had previously laid out the
town of New Braunfels for Prince Solm. He saw and fell in love with the valley
of the Sister Creeks. In 1847 he built a small log cabin on 1280 acres he
purchased. He sold a portion of this to George Frederick Holekamp and the cabin
with 58 acres to Dr. Ernst Kapp.
Dr. Kapp established the Kapp
Hydropathic Clinic. The many natural mineral springs on the property were used
to cure disease. The place is called Badenthal which translates into " natural
spring valley." The second permanent settler in the area
was Ottmar von Behr. He built his log home on a bluff overlooking the Guadalupe
River. The first post office in the county was in a small room in the Behr home
and he had the first library of the county. These earliest settlers were
well-educated intellectuals who had left Germany for political reasons. Their
interest in building a good school system reflects their background. When the
township was established in 1883 a school lot was platted in the central area of
the town. Source: Kendall County Historical Commission, A History of
Kendall County Texas: Rivers, Ranches, Railroads, Recreation, Dallas, Tx.,
Taylor Publishing Co., 1984. |