Pioneer Museum – Fredericksburg

In downtown Fredericksburg, in the midst of all the shops and restaurants, lies an open-air museum, celebrating the first days of Fredericksburg, Texas.  In about May, 1846, people settled here from Germany.  This open-air museum gave an insight to what the everyday life looked like for those pioneers.

Weber Sunday House (circa 1904)

The above collection of images shows the Weber Sunday House (middle) and a couple of photos of the interior of it.  A typical Sunday House consisted of only one room, with a bit of storage above the living area of the house.  These storage areas were generally reached by stairway or ladder.  Sunday Houses were built by families who lived farther outside of town, and used on weekends when the family came into town to shop and attend church.  In this case, the Weber family lived 7 miles outside of town – a 5-10 minute drive today, but it look much longer in the 1800’s!

Outside Looking In – Weber Sunday House

I took this image from the front porch, looking into the Weber Sunday House.  Perhaps the family would peer into this window, much like me, when they would arrive at their “weekend town home”! 

Walton Smith Cabin - Entry

The Walton Smith cabin was originally built outside of town, near the Gillespie/Llano county lines, and later moved here to the museum.  The original cabin was built in the 1880’s, but was rebuilt in 1985.  It was typical of what family homes looked like back in the 1880’s.

Walton Smith Cabin

Here’s a photo collage of sorts of the inside of the Walton Smith cabin.  The spinning wheel in the upper left corner was probably used by the woman of the house/cabin, as she spun yarn from wool sheared off the sheep they had.  The family hearth (lower left) was probably used for heat, and the chairs in front of it used horsehair for the seats.  Don’t you just love the deluxe stove that Mrs. Walton Smith had to cook on (center)?  The last photo in the collage (right side) was looking from just inside the back door of the cabin, thru the kitchen and dining area thru to the living room area where the hearth and spinning wheel were to the front door.

Schmiede Barn

This collection of photos is of a typical barn of the time, this one apparently owned by the Schmiede family.  You can see the double door entry to allow the family’s wagon or buggy to enter, and also some of the tools of the day on display now just inside the barn!

Kammlah Barn & Smokehouse

The significance of the Kammlah Family Homestead is that these structures are still sitting on their original build site.  They have not been moved or rebuilt either.  This building served two purposes – as a barn (red wood portion of the structure) and as a smokehouse (stone portion).  Not only did the first and second Mr. Kammlah smoke liver, sausage, bacon and ham for their family, they also sold meats to the nearby townspeople as well.

Kammlah Smokehouse

According to the family, the wives were in charge of running the smokehouse.  A small fire would have been lit in one corner of the smokehouse (image on the right), and the meats would have been hung from the rafters for a few days to fully cure.  The image on the left shows some of the tools that would have been used, and (fake) replicas of some of the sausages that were smoked there.

Kammlah House

This image shows only 1 part of the Kammlah house.  The landscaping is quite lovely and mature and different from all the other buildings in this museum.  I’m imagining that’s due to it being on its original build site.  Over the years, the house was added onto again and again, sort of an ongoing building process!

Kammlah House – Interior

Here are some images I took while inside the Kammlah house.  The center image is of what is commonly called a root cellar.  At one point, I’m certain the entrance was on the outside of the home; but over time, additions to the house were added, and the outside root cellar became the inside root cellar!  The photo on the left shows a child’s tricycle, now rusted, but still in one piece!  The image on the right is the view from the Kammlah house across the road (at the time) to their next-door neighbors, the Fasel-Roeder’s.  Their home is the only other one on this site that was originally built here.

Kammlah House Worn Steps

These steps were also, at one time, outside the house – perhaps the original back door steps.  The top step was really interesting to me, in that is worn down by several inches in one spot.  I’m guessing that was where many shoes landed over the many years!

Front Porch – Fasel-Roeder House

As I said above, the Fasel-Roeder’s were the Kammlah’s next door (across the road) neighbors.  Their landscaping isn’t quite as lush – perhaps they didn’t have much of a green thumb!  I could just picture the family sitting outside after dinner, enjoying the cooling air, and watching other neighbors walking by or riding by in their wagons. 

Front Porch Details – Fasel-Roder House

So much of the buildings seen in the museum were very practical and utilitarian.  It was nice to see this fancy decorative touch. 

Achleger Bath House

One thing that one might notice when touring the various homes in the museum, is that there were no bathrooms.  I’m certain that there were outhouses, but no place to take baths, etc.  These bathhouses were popular in the early 1900’s.

Achleger Bath House Interior

These photos are of the inside of the bathhouse.  Gentlemen could get a shave and a haircut on one side, and a hot bath on the other.  However, what’s not clear to me is how the ladies got themselves fresh and clean!

Enjoy!